


These arms were made to protect you

by Larry_IsLIFE



Category: One Direction
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Billionare Harry, Bottom Louis, Business Environment, Dom Harry, F/M, Famous Harry, Fluff, Human Louis, Imprinting, It's very hard being a human, M/M, Mating, Multi, Non-Famous Louis, Soul Bond, Tiny Louis, Vampire Clans, Vampire Harry, Violence, brief mention of choking, lots of fucking fluff guys get ready
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-30
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2018-05-10 09:44:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 31,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5581039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Larry_IsLIFE/pseuds/Larry_IsLIFE
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where vampires and their fertiles have taken over, humans are oppressed and looked down upon. Harry Styles, the leader of the most powerful clan existing, has found the perfect mate in a beautiful boy named Louis. Except there's one teeny tiny problem...<br/></p>
<p>
Louis is not a fertile.<br/>
</p><p>
He's human.
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

 

The day louis turns 18 was the day his mother died. It was a bad lung infection that could have easily been cured had they had the money. But despite his constant pleading, his mother would not let him drop out of school and help her pay for the bills.

He'd scraped the very last of the money they had left to give her a proper funeral, but even then it was incredibly modest even to the poorest of standards. She was placed into a tiny coffin made out of cheap wood. There was no feast and the ceremony was simple and short with only seven people attending, including himself and the priest. 

It was after they'd lowered their casket into the ground that it had finally hit him. He would never be able to see his mother again. He would never be able to tell her he loved her. He wouldn't be able to hear her constantly nagging at him to work harder, to persevere and never admit defeat even if being born what he was a huge disadvantage from the very start. 

Sometimes - okay, all the time - being a human sucked.

The world today was run by vampires and fertiles, and there was almost no space for the weak and slow at the top. All the coporations, the large multinational companies, all the wealth, were owned by vampire clans. They were the millionaires and billionaires, while the insignificant amount of humans left were to grovel at their feet and make the best of the leftovers.

About a thousand years ago, the vampire community came out of hiding after they were promised fair treatment and peace from men.  But they were a superior race. Dominant vamps were strong and fast; fertiles intelligent and cunning. They got the work done twice as quickly, meeting all the standards easily and with immaculate precision.

There was no competition. They took over slowly but surely.

As a result, humans became useless and redundant in society.All they were used for now were to fill in the worst jobs; ones that vampires would deem undesirable. Life became increasingly difficult, as they were pushed lower and lower down the corporate ladder. Construction and factory workers, cleaners, prostitutes - sometimes even slaves.

Some humans offered themselves as food or vamps to earn extra money. Although they could survive on animal blood, vampires find human blood richer and tastier, and it had various positive effects on a pregnant fertile - especially if the source was relatively young. 

To Louis, it was an easy way out for people who were too lazy to work hard for what they wanted. It was shameful, how they would sell out their body to those bloodsuckers for a few dirty pounds. Giving blood made a human weak and dizzy, and this could carry on for a few hours, even days, after the feeding. People have been known to die from severe blood loss if the vamp loses self-restraint and drains the giver. Yet it was still a popular job.

Louis had sworn to himself he would never turn his body into a mobile blood bag. He would work that much harder to achieve his goals and create a good life for himself despite being flawed from the word 'go', just like his mother had taught him.

And in his opinion, he was halfway there.

He was going to graduate this weekend, and several colleges have already accepted his application. He'd also been notified that he had gotten a job as an intern in the most prestigious firm in the country, Styles Incorporated, which was of course part of the Styles Empire owned by the Styles clan. It was, without a doubt, the best day of his life when the email appeared on his inbox. Some _vampires_ wouldn't even dream of being accepted in at this young an age, let alone a human. Humans working in offices were so exceptionally rare Louis had to call the firm several times to check there hadn't been a mistake.

Not that vampires were capable of such mistake.

His mother had been so proud and happy she'd cried for a full hour before the horrid virus had made her hack up blood and Louis had to put her into bed to rest. The thing is, neither of them had thought this was going to happen.

Sure, Jay had heard many times her son's professors praise him profusely during the majority of his school life, _"He's outstanding, maybe even as bright as a fertile, I'd say",_ accompanied with a cheery laugh.But experience had taught her never to try and compete with the superior, because it was a guaranteed failure.

Yet her son had made it. 

In that moment she knew all her hard work and sweat and tears had paid off, she knew her son would be able to live a better life than she had.

Of course, Louis would have to continue to work twice as hard, juggling college and work in an environment where he was constantly racing against people so profoundly better than himself. But he's been doing that for the last 18 years of his life. It's not easy, living with a human single-mother. And he would continue to do what he's always done:

Survive.

 

 

The evening gets steadily colder. The sun's watery light disappears behind the horizon, and Louis stands up from where he was kneeling by Jay's grave, brushing the dirt off his torn jeans. It was getting late, he should go back home to prepare for the first day of work at the firm tomorrow, and he couldn't be late on a first day.

Running his fingers over the cold stone of the cross, Louis whispers his promise: "I'll try my best, mom."

_I won't let your sacrifice go to waste._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm experimenting with this, because I've never written a dom/sub AU before. Please tell me if you liked it or hated it. Opinions are always helpful, especially with this fic where I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing.


	2. Vultures circling dark clouds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY NEW YEARRRR!!!!  
> (Sorry, just had to get that out of the way.)  
> Erm.. I'm a student, therefore I obviously don't know the details on how a firm runs (sorry!). I made it all up in this chapter so if there is anything inaccurate please just ignore it :))

His alarm blasts him out of sleep at 6 o’clock sharp the following morning. Work doesn’t start until 9 because it was the first day, but he couldn’t afford to be a minute late.

In his human school, punctuality was taught as one of the very first lesson they’d learned. Not being as physically tough and fast meant that they’d had to master how to manage time their efficiently in order to not always lag behind. His mother had agreed wholeheartedly with this – she’d once lost her job from being just _seven minutes late_ – and went out of her way to make sure he was always on time, even if that meant waking him several _hours_ early every day.

He’d absolutely hated it.

Today, he silently thanked her for all the practice. Today, he wanted to make a good first impression (even though he was only an intern and nobody was going to pay him much attention except when asking for a refill of their coffee). But it was important to him; it marked his new life out in the real world, and he wanted to prove - mostly to himself - that he was capable of creating something good without taking shortcuts or having any leverage.

So he took an hour fussing in front of the mirror, making sure he looked neat and professional. If his mother was here, she would have managed to do it for him in fifty seconds flat.

But she isn’t.

She’s dead because even after slaving away for the rich and powerful for 45 years of her life, in the end she still couldn’t pay for life-saving treatment and medicine. It made him loathe being human, loathed being born weaker. Had he had the abilities of a dom or a fertile, he might have been able to make more money sooner. He might have been able to save her...

Louis shakes himself slightly. This wasn't the time for morbid thoughts. Today was about a new beginning and he can't let past misfortunes to ruin his spirit. After smoothing his shirt out one more time and sparing a last glance in the mirror, Louis slips his shoes on and exits.

 

 He leaves the house with an hour to spare, skipping and smiling like a loon because it still seems surreal that he was going to work for Styles Inc. And he’s getting _paid_ for his internship!

It’s not really that surprising that they pay their interns (the Styles empire and their clan have billions and billions to spare), but they didn’t _have to_. There would still be thousands, even millions of young hopefuls applying every year because once you’ve worked in a Styles company, you could work anywhere.

He bounces all the way to the nearest subway, and only slows down because he’s too aware that he may do something really stupid like trip over a puddle and break his neck like that first day in primary school. Had he mentioned he was also ridiculously clumsy? It wasn’t uncommon; humans weren’t necessarily known for their gracefulness.

 

The Styles law firm was even more impressive in person than on television; everything was crisp and clean and immaculate - even the _air_ smelled posh (don’t ask him how that’s possible) – and each piece of glossy furniture looked like it cost more than ten months of his rent combined. Not a fleck of dust was visible on any surface of the building; everything was polished and so shiny you could catch your reflection in it.

With his scruffy shoes and second-hand turtleneck he’d stolen from Lou on her birthday, Louis stuck out like a sore thumb.

Shuffling his way to the reception, he asks the girl behind the counter quietly for directions because the email provided him with the address of the building but didn’t specify the floor number and room. The girl – Annie, her name tag said – pointed him in the right direction, smiling kindly and giving him a sympathetic nod when she saw that he was new.

And then a shocked and incredulous stare when she realized he was not a vamp.

 

The minute he steps out of the elevator on the fifteenth floor of the Styles Tower, he was met with a grim looking woman in her fifties, clipboard in hand, looking stern and condescending. She eyes him up and down, ignoring the way he shrivels in discomfort under her icy and scrutinizing gaze.

“You must be the new intern.” She says finally, her accent was fluent and effortlessly sophisticated. Louis tries his best not to feel intimidated.

“You’re early. You’ll be assisting Niall today.” She points a manicured finger at a blonde fertile sorting out papers behind a desk. The man looks up as his name was mentioned, and upon realising who Louis was, waves him over.

Everyone in the office looked incredibly busy. There were vamps moving around at an insane speed, engrossed in their tablets and laptops or maneuvering enormous stacks of papers they held to their chest, while still looking calm and collected.

Louis imagines doing this himself, and could only picture piles of papers and documents flying everywhere.

 Gulping, he made his way over, making sure not to bump into anybody. It was unnecessary anyways; vamps had a much better sense of balance, swerving past him smoothly and only occasionally pausing for a fraction of a second to give him an odd stare. Not every day do they get to see a human this young in their building.

Louis resolutely ignores all of them and approaches Niall’s table.

The blond stands up to greet him, his startling blue eyes bore into Louis “I’m Niall. I’m assuming you’re the new intern.” The fertile glances down at a yellow post it on his table, “Louis Tomlinson?”

He was beautiful, really. Like all vamps were. Silky, fair skin and a muscular build with a subtle hint of curves that signifies his gender.

“Yep, that’s me.” Louis says.

Niall nods and sits back down.

“You’ll be filing documents today. Lunch break is at twelve thirty and the shift finishes at five.” he speaks at a rapid pace, an accent lilting his voice. The vamp's fingers don't halt on the keyboard (they were blurring together with how fast he was typing), and his eyes don’t leave the computer screen, although he directs a warm smile at Louis and motions to the empty seat next to him.

Louis nods.

Right.

Work. Work was good. Work he was familiar with.

He settles down wordlessly beside Niall and gets started.

 

He makes it a grand total of sixteen minutes before his curiosity gets the better of him and all the questions start pouring out. He’s not normally talkative, but this world was just so new and fascinating he can’t seem to stop wanting to know everything.

“So, are you from a clan?” Louis blurts out suddenly. Niall turns to look at him, not at all fazed by Louis’s sudden outburst.

“Yeah, I’m a Horan.”

Horan…

Horan, that sounds familiar.

“The Irish clan?”

“Yeah.”

“That owns real estate?”

“Yeah.” Niall repeats, nose still glued to the document on his Mac.

Louis’ eyes grow comically wide in astonishment. He knows them. Most people – most _humans_ \- would, anyway. They were relatively powerful and filthy rich. His father had actually been a construction worker at one of their projects when he was alive.

“Then what are _you_ doing here?” Louis wanted to ask Niall, because why would a fertile from such a wealthy family want to work in a lower position for a company owned by another clan? But that was probably prying and rude, so he opted for smiling politely and staying silent.

“Sorry,” Niall says, after noticing Louis had gone quiet all of a sudden. His short responses had probably made the intern think Niall wasn’t interested in talking to him, “I’m normally friendlier than this, but Mr Payne is visiting the firm tomorrow so we’re all tripping over ourselves trying and get things done on time.”

“No! No! I’m not – it’s just – wait… Who’s Mr Payne?”

“The dom who owns the company.” Niall explains, his expression confused, like he was reciting the most common knowledge ever.

“Is he part of the Styles clan?”

“Yup. Second in line after Mr Styles.”

“Who’s Mr Styles?”

“For a human, you do know very little and ask a lot of questions.”

Louis blushes, an apology on the tip of his tongue, but Niall laughs it off. “Harry Styles. You know, the clan leader? The clan was named after him.”

Louis nods at this information, although his mind had already wondered elsewhere.

After just the first day of working here, the boss of the firm was already checking in. Louis didn't even have enough time to familiarize himself with the work! What if he messes up or makes a crucial mistake? Not to mention Louis was a magnet for trouble, and had a tendency to embarrass himself in very unfortunate situations. If anything close to that happened in front of the boss, all of his hard work for the last 18 years would be thrown out the window along with this job.

He felt sick just thinking about it.

 

The next day, as expected, was a whole other level of hectic. It seemed like everybody was running around, rushing to meet deadlines and complete assigned tasks before ‘Mr Payne’ arrives. Before he knows it, Louis was not only assisting Niall, but 8 other people in the office. The air felt thick with tension, and he can’t help but wonder how terrifying this ‘Mr Payne’ must be to make even well-trained vamps run around like headless chickens.

When he asks Danielle (the kind brunette dom who sits opposite him) she laughs boisterously like he’d just cracked the funniest joke.

“Darling, anyone in that clan can make you shit your pant with one look. But it’s not Liam Payne we’re all worried about. Haven’t you heard? Mr Styles is in town, too and he’s dropping by. The man’s known to be a tough cookie." she winks, " So buckle up, son.”

“Mr Styles? He’s the – the clan leader right?”

“Clan leader, pack alpha, commander, whatever floats you boat.” Danielle waves her hands in the air in an exaggerated motion to punctuate her point, “But enough of this. Won’t you be a babe and go grab me another cup of coffee?”

“You just had three cups in the last hour!”

“I’m a dom, Lou. I drink ten times more coffee than you puny humans.”

“We are _not_ puny!”

“Sorry love.”

 

Louis came back from his trip to Starbucks juggling 14 cups of coffee (after Danielle had requested for a refill, everyone in the office suddenly wanted a cup) and sweating like he’d just run a marathon – which, in some sense he has.

He’d left mumbling and grumbling, asking Danielle why she couldn’t be merciful and send an intern like Rick (who was a dom and could speed-walk 10 times faster than any average vamp), instead of a “puny” human whose legs were short.

The heartless woman had replied by giving him an “I’m-trying-to-be-sympathetic-but-not-really” pat on the shoulder accompanied with a _very_ comforting “Too bad it’s your job love.”

Louis is really starting to hate that phrase.

He was about to make his way back up into the building when he sees the entrance had been blocked by two sleek black Audis and a throng of muscular men in suits.

Bodyguards.

He wonders what kind of hot-shot would need that much security.

Looks like he’ll have to take the side entrance. Rolling his eyes and huffing out a tired breath, Louis turns and makes his way as quickly as possible to the East Gate, desperately trying to get out of the scorching sun. He transfers all of the coffee to one hand, to wipe at his forehead with the other.

That was another thing he hated about being human.

They sweat.

They had disgusting body odour that vampires were immune to. Louis prays he’d brought that extra shirt from home so he could slip out and change during lunch break to make sure he doesn’t stink up the entire office. Especially if Mr Payne and Mr Styles were coming today.

The intern finally makes his way into the building without any further delays, sighing in relief when the cool air hits his over-heated skin. His phone buzzes loudly with a new text:

_Niall: Louis, hurry up. They’re here and Caroline wants everyone to be present when they come to our floor. You really don’t want to be late._

Louis tries his hardest to type a reply with one hand, but it was difficult when he was trying to walk as well as balance over a dozen cups of hot liquid at the same time. There’s only so much a human can do. Stepping into the elevator, he dithers for a minute, before deciding to put the phone away an-

Out of nowhere, his face collides with a hard surface.

The impact sends Louis’ small body stumbling back a few steps, the boiling hot coffee sloshing out of its container and bag and scalding his skin. Louis yelps at the sudden pain, his eyes watering.

Abruptly, there was a hand cradling his arm and a cloth pressed to the burn to dab up the hot liquid.

Louis looks up to see the person he’d bumped into. There were two men in the elevator with him. Everything about them spoke of authority and power. Dominance. Yet there was no arrogance in the midst of all the strength. In fact, the Curly-haired man was dabbing at Louis’s injured hand right now, eyebrows furrowed in concern, whilst the intern stood frozen.

Then he sees the huge coffee stain on the man’s shirt and retracts in shock.

Louis had spilled coffee on a dom’s shirt.

He’d poured _boiling_ coffee on a dom’s shirt.

He was going to get fired.

“I-I-I’m so sorry. I d-didn’t mean – I’m sorry.” Louis stutters pathetically, blinded by fear.

“It’s alrig-“

Louis does the worst thing anyone could do in a situation like this. He stumbles out of the elevator and flees towards the stairs, taking two steps at a time. He was terrified. He’d angered a dom. He was running late when the firm’s bosses were visiting. He was going to get _fired_ on the second day.

He could hear the man calling after him, but he doesn’t slow down. He runs all the way up to the fifteenth floor and bursts through the office, panting and gasping.

Everyone was still working normally.

There was no Mr Styles or Mr Payne in sight.

He'd made it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMMENTS ARE THE BEST!!! hehe i'm weird, I know.


	3. Love's a fragile little flame

Harry:

It had been almost a year since he'd last set foot inside the Styles law firm.

This was Liam’s domain; the company that he’d built from the ground up and Harry wanted to leave it that way. He had been careful to be involved as little as possible in corporate decisions as well as in general, giving Liam full reign. Harry may be the clan leader, but he will not discredit people whose continuous contribution over the years had led the company to success.

Today, however, he wanted to check up on the firm’s progress. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Liam to do a good job. No, far from it. Liam was part of the clan ( not to mention practically family) and would _always_ have Harry’s undiluted trust, whatever happens. But this firm was still a branch of the ‘Styles Empire’, as people call it now, and he still needed to be on top of all that's going on.

And on top of _that_ , he's been considering moving their headquarters here for quite some time now. It made sense, seeing that this was one of their larger buildings and there were several spare conference rooms and offices on the top floors preserved for shareholder meetings anyways. And he'd be closer to Anne and Robin here in London.

 

They arrive; their separate cars pulling in after one another in front of the main entrance. He had to admit it was a little over-the-top with all the bodyguards, but the paparazzi have been consistently more savage the last few months after his scandal with that model on the yatch ( they're just _friends_ and she's a mated fertile, for fuck's sake.)

So much so that there had been a point where Harry thought if they yelled another vile comment at him or pushed him or flashed those damn lights in his eyes one more time he would surely tear someone’s head off.

Literally.

But today there seemed to be none hanging around the building ready to lunge as soon as he steps out. For once, they makes it inside seamlessly without Alberto even having to scream and threaten to smash some cameras.

 

After approximately twenty-five minutes of scouring the ground floor and speaking to all the staff, they make their way towards the elevators to head up to the second.

From what he’d seen, he had to admit Liam was doing a good job, as expected, of running the firm. All the employees seemed to be hard-working and disciplined, and looking at the annual and monthly spread sheets, he’d garnered that the company was doing pretty well in terms of profits.

When he tells Liam this, the man laughs jovially and stage-whispers: “They’re putting on their best faces because you’re here.” although Harry doesn’t miss the way his puppy-dog eyes light up at the compliment,“You have no idea how much you terrify them, Alpha.”

 _Alpha_.

It was a nickname his friends gave him when they were younger because he’d always been so dominating and strictly protective of his loved ones, even as a child. It’s kept ever since and it never fails to make him smile when his clan calls him that.

It was a sweet reminder of simpler times.

 

Liam rushes them towards the elevators, ushering the leader in while muttering to himself about how they were taking too long and consequently wouldn’t be able to spend “sufficient” time with each individual worker.

Harry holds in a fond chuckle. Liam was like that, always too neat and organized and set a bar too high for himself.

The doms file inside the cramped space and Harry was about to press the close button when he first sees the boy.

Harry doesn't know what it was about him that caught the vamp's eye.

Perhaps it was the fact that he was beautiful.

Harry knew this before he even saw his face (which was currently bowed to look at the phone his hand). He was petite and delicate and practically swimming in fabric with that oversized shirt he had on, rolled up at the sleeves to display dainty little wrists. He was slowly walking across the hall towards them, bouncing with each steps as his small feet make tiny pitter patter noises on the marble flooring. 

The dom was filled with a sudden urge to wrap the boy in a fluffy blanket, cuddle him and protect him from everything bad in the world. Keep him  _Harry’s_ forever.

Which Harry, if he wasn’t currently in a trance-like state, should realise aren’t thoughts someone would normally have after 5 seconds of watching an unknown stranger cross a room.

But he couldn’t. Harry was too hypnotised by the lovely creature making his way towards them to process much else.

As the boy approaches, the curves on his body start to become more prominent. The steep dip of his waist was unmistakable, the soft swell of his hips, the way his skinny jeans clung onto his sinful, thick thighs like a second skin. Harry can’t wait to get in betwee-

“Earth to Harry.” Liam’s voice jolts him out of his stupor, “Man, close the door.”

“Ehem…What? … Oh er… Right.” He blinks, taking a minute to shake his head, banish the confusing thoughts and morph back into his usual composed demeanor. This wasn't the time to salivate over pretty employees. He reaches out to pres-

 “Hey wait.” Liam holds on to the open button,  “I think he’s going up, too.” Liam motions to the brunette boy.

Harry clears his throat, smoothing down his suit to give himself something to do, “Yeah… yeah. I think he is.”

“Well, then we should wait for him.” Liam frowns at Harry’s weird behaviour. He looked a little out of it, to be honest, with the way his eyes were glazed over and mouth hanging open. He’d never seen his friend like this before.

Harry, on the other hand, was still trying to rationalise why images of bending this boy over and kissing him and fucking him senseless and breeding him kept circulating in loops non-stop in his mind.He’d met plenty of beautiful people in his lifetime, he’d had sex with more fertiles than he’d care to count, and yet this was the first time his body seemed to have completely shut down at the sight of a person...

And then the boy looks up.

The world ceases spinning.

He swears he feels it then, that feeling the authors of the sappiest novels wouldn't shut up about since the very beginning of time. They describe it elaborately in the most detailed passages, over and over again - the moment where something inevitable clicks snugly into place so that _everything_ makes sense. Where your drifting heart finally finds its anchor (or some shit like that, he can't really remember).

A soulbond.

The first time Anne had explained it to him, he was eight. And he was terrified. The idea of falling in love with somebody at first sight, without really being able to decide didn't sit well with his predominant personality, and the fact that he would be so powerless over the situation.

It should really scare him now, too, because he has so much to lose. But somehow it feels like the cerulean blue eyes he's staring into holds all the answers he'll ever need, and the promise of safety behind them is more than enough to overshadow any fear.

Maybe that's why he doesn't feel the petite body bumps face-first into his chest and he's doused with a bag full of steaming liquid all down his front. In all honesty, he doesn't register it. Vamps don't know hot and cold or wet and dry like humans do. What alerts Harry was the pained cry from the boy beneath him, whose face was pulled into a grimace and the hand that had been in contact with the hot coffee pressed to his chest as if it would somehow alleviate the pain.  

The image pierces Harry in an odd way, and he's scrambling to find the handkerchief he always keep in his back pocket to soothe the pain, because this beautiful creature being in pain is unacceptable, and Harry knows he's going to do everything in his power to keep it from ever happening again.

Upon feeling Harry's touch, boy peers up through his eyelashes in confusion - god, he was breathtaking up close - and jerks back, mumbling out a sudden string of almost unintelligible apologies.

"It's alright -" Harry begins, but the boy was already darting out of the elevator and running towards a staircase, still shaking like a leaf and looking slightly unsteady on his feet.

"Hey! Hey wait-" Harry begins follow, with his speed he's surely catch up in no tim-

“Harry!” Liam exclaims, rushing to his side and yanking on his arm “Are you alright?!”

He'd almost forgotten Liam was there. Through the entire encounter the dom had been watching silently in disbelief.

“Who was that?” the clan leader demands, voice barely above a whisper and eyes still trained on the spot the human boy had been standing moments earlier.

“He’s probably a new intern. I don’t recognize him from previous visits.” Liam had always had a very good memory for a vamp and prided himself in being able to remember the names of all the 2000 employees plus they had in this firm. But the coffee boy looked completely unfamiliar, although he was definitely a member of staff because he was wearing their logo on his shirt.

Harry remained silent, not reacting to Liam’s words at all.

“Harry?”

“I-I think I’ve found him.”

 

Louis:

As he enters the room, all heads turn to look at him - their beady eyes taking in his flushed face, his wild and frightened expression, the burn on his arm that was now turning a nasty red and the mess that was left of the coffee cups. He looked like a right mess himself, and was so embarrassed he just wanted to rush to a corner on his own, dig a hole and hibernate forever.

Niall was the first to break the silence, rushing over and inspecting Louis’s arm.

“Louis,” Niall prods at the skin surrounding the burn gently, and Louis hisses “What happened?”

“I-erm-I-I spilled the c-coffee on the way up.”

“Why? Did you trip?”

“Yeah-yeah I t-tripped on the stairs.” Louis looked down at the bag in his hand sadly “I’m sorry, I don’t think they’re drinkable anymore.”

“Don’t worry, darling. I didn’t want mine anyways.” Danielle said kindly. A chorus of ‘yeah’s and ‘its okay’s echoed around the office. Louis wanted to cry; these people were so generous and looked out for him so much even after knowing him for little less than two days. In his mother’s old company, she would have been fired ten times over.

Louis nods thankfully and flashes a watery smile in return.

“I have a spare shirt you can change into.” Rick offers, holding out a wrinkled white shirt. It looked clean enough, and it was dry, so Louis thanks him repeatedly and rushes out to change.

 

It was two hours later that the CEOs finally arrived on their floor.

“Attention, everyone!” Caroline says in that annoying, airy voice of hers, “This is Mr Styles and Mr Payne, although I’m sure you know who they are.” she breaths out a cheery, plastic laugh. “They will be visiting each of you and examining your work, so please continue normally.”

Louis glances up from his laptop and peers over Niall’s head to catch a glimpse of the two famous vampires that had the entire building in full-fledged panic for days after they announced their visit. Niall was a head taller than himself, so Louis had to strain a little to see…

Tall, broad shouldered doms. Posture oozing with assertive strength and authority.

The man was facing the other way to speak to Caroline, but Louis could still make out the mop of unruly, chocolate brown curls, could see the small but unmistakable coffee stain on the shirt of the dom standing to the right.

 _No_.

It feels like he’s been doused with ice-cold water. Dread spreading through his veins like a vicious drug and paralysing him.

“N-Niall?” Louis prods the fertile gently. Even after swallowing repeatedly and taking several deep breaths, his voice still comes out shaky and uneven, “T-they’re the c-clan leaders?”

“Yeah.” Niall murmurs back. “That one,” he points to the vamp on the left “is Liam Payne.” “And that one,” Niall points at the man with curls “is Harry Styles.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii!  
> Thank you so much for the amazing feedback in the last two chapters!!! Although it's always lovely to see positive comments, constructive criticism and questions are really helpful too!
> 
> P.S: Sorry it took me a some time to post this. Future updates will be quicker, promise :))


	4. They've got the cages

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiii!!! I forgot to establish this in the previous chapters so I'm going to explain it here.  
> Humans _can ___be mated with vampires (which is essentially like marrying) and they can also feel a bond to a certain extent, but nowhere near as strongly or as quickly as the dom or the fertile would after first seeing their soulmate.  
>  However, vamps _can't ___impregnate humans, even if the human is female. Doms can only have children with a fertile mate.  
>  I'm really sorry for any confusion, and thank you dancingwithfireflies for pointing this out!
> 
> PS: This chapter may be a little confusing at first so please read till the end :))

Louis:

Louis eases his way out of his chair slowly – ever so slowly – so he doesn’t draw attention to himself and blow it. His was desk located at the back of the office, crammed right next to the exit and he’d found it quite disheartening on the first day that he didn’t get a seat next to the window.

Right now he couldn’t be more thankful.

He risks a glance back in the direction of the two men, and breaths an inaudible breath of relief when he sees that they were still engrossed in conversation with Caroline (she looks like she’s showing them some sort of chart and in that moment Louis could kiss her), as the rest of the office stares, too star-struck to notice anything fishy.

The intern slips right out.

The exit opens out into a long corridor which eventually leads to the emergency staircase Louis had used to get up minutes ago. Now he tiptoes as quietly as his clumsy human feet would let him down the narrow passage, because even through relatively thick walls, vampires can still detect small sounds clearly (or that was what Ms. Marie from biology taught him, anyway). And although he’s doubtful that anybody would realize he’s missing with the CEOs presence in the room– maybe except Niall – it still doesn’t hurt to be careful.

He doesn’t know how he’s going to explain this to Caroline afterwards either, but he _does_ know that if he stays in there and he’s recognised, his job is as good as gone.

 

When he’s far enough that he’s certain no one will hear anything, he breaks into a jog. The intern barely makes it down the corner towards the end of the passage before-

“Where are you going?” a deep, smooth voice questions quietly behind him.

To Louis, though, it rings louder than lighting striking next to his ear and punches all of the air out of his lungs. He freezes, squeezing his eyes tight shut and praying that his mind was playing a cruel trick on him; that the voice was simply conjured by his exhaustion and panic.

Louis turns around slowly, his eyes still closed. He’s half-convinced he’ll open them to an empty corridor and laugh at himself for his silliness.

Instead he’s met with the sight that will probably haunt his nightmares (and maybe his wet dreams, but that’s besides the point) for the rest of his adult life. Standing there in all his _fucking_ glory was Harry _fucking_ Styles. Most powerful man on earth, according to Niall (and several newspaper outlets), and possibly the most beautiful creature to walk the planet even when his face is stony and his eyebrows are raised questioningly.

This _can’t_ be happening. How is it possible that all the bad luck in his _life_ decided to completely condense into the space of a few short hours?

In the space of a few hours, he’s managed to soak a _clan leader_ with hot coffee in an elevator, stuttered out what couldn’t even count as a proper apology, and ran off without even _attempting_ to clean up the mess.

And now he’s caught trying to sneak his way out of the office.

He’s lucky if he leaves the building in one piece. Vamps aren’t very tolerant with repetitive mistakes, especially because they hardly make any themselves, and even when they do it’s never more than once. In the past humans have been known to be beaten, whipped and sometimes killed for wearing out the patience of authoritarian doms or even aggressive fertiles.

Although that it doesn’t happen anymore because now there are laws set against human abuse, Louis cowers away in fear and shrinks into himself in the presence of such a powerful figure. The dom could probably sense his fear too, with the way Louis’ heart is trying to hammer its way out of his ribcage, and he has to grip his hands into fists by his side to stop them from shaking.

“Why are you running?” the dom asks calmly.

Louis lets out a tiny whimper, because why wasn’t Mr. Styles shouting by now? It’s always worse with silent anger - he had learned that the hard way.

“I w-w-was going to… the toilets, s-sir” Louis shifts his gaze down to the floor so the dom doesn’t see the lie there. “I was desperate” he adds, to explain for the running part.

“There are no toilets in the emergency staircase.” Harry Styles clips, unimpressed.

Of course. Of _fucking_ course.

“Erm… I-I’m a new intern, sir. I didn't know.” Louis rushes, shuffling his feet nervously because it’s clear by now that he’s just pulling all of this out of his arse, and Harry Styles seemed to know it too. The man raises his eyebrows in disbelief, and for a moment the intern thought he was going to be called out for it and be fired there and then. 

To his surprise, the dom gives him a curt nod, before turning around and walking back inside, motioning for Louis to follow.

 

What happens next had Louis wishing he’d died in that damn corridor.

“Who’s in charges of this intern? He was found wondering the corridors during working time trying to find the toilets. How is it that new workers are not instructed properly in this department?” even when Harry Styles speaks at a relatively quiet volume, his voice reverberates through the office in a way that had every manager, staffer, cleaner looking up at once.

“Who’s responsible for him?” Mr. Styles repeats, frowning in disdain because nobody was giving him an answer.

Eventually, Niall steps up to meet him, the fertile’s eyes catching Louis’ and giving him a questioning look, and Louis diverts his gaze like a coward because he can’t stand the horrible guilt that's eating him up on the inside. Because  _Niall_ – of all people - had to take the blame for this. Niall, who had been nothing but patient and open and treated him like a friend even though they’d only known each other for less than two days and Louis was technically an outsider.

Niall follows Mr. Styles into a secluded office on the side, and Louis stays where he is in the corner, staring down at his scruffy shoes and holding in tears (and maybe even vomit because he really feels like throwing up), praying that this won't negatively affect Niall, too.

Everybody’s eyes were on him, their scathing gaze hot on his skin. Some were angry and chiding; others were just filled with pity.

Because he was a human.

Why would they have expected a human to do  _anything_  right first place?

  

When Niall appears fifteen minutes later, he looks even more confused than when he’d walked in. When he sees Louis staring, the blonde shoots him a small smile before walking back to his desk and settling down, which baffles the smaller boy. Was he mocking Louis? Does Niall hate him _that_ much?

Before Louis could finish that train of thought, he feels a small tap on his shoulder, and looks up to see Harry Styles looming over him.

“Pack your things. You have five minutes.”

He says it quietly, but the entire office were straining their ears to hear, and of course they pick up every single word.

“Yes, sir.” Louis says softly. He’s expected it. He’s just thankful there were no further punishements implemente-

“I expect you in my office by twelve past ten sharp with all your belongings.”

Nope. He’d spoken too early. Looks like there _will_ be punishment after all.

“From now on you will work as my personal assistant. Since this department has failed to prepare you for a job here, I will have to do it myself.”

Gasps and whispers spread like wildfire across the office, and even the workers who were pretending to be focused on their work instead of staring before, snap their heads up and gawk, disbelief poorly hidden in their expressions.

Harry Styles walks out, then, and Lous is left standing their trying to figure out what the fuck had just happened, on his own.

 

Harry :

_“I-I think I’ve found him.”_

“Found who?” Liam turns to him, confusion lacing his tone.

“My mate, Liam. He’s my soulmate.” Liam pauses for a second, before he bursts out laughing, eyes crinkling as he heaves.

“Good one Harry.”

“What’s so funny?” Harry asks.

Liam laughs again, louder this time, but it sounds more strained. Uncertain.“You’re joking. You’re joking right?” He looks at Hary expectantly, as if waiting for the punchline. Harry stares back at him blankly.

“You’re…serious?” A pregnant pause. “Oh god.” Liam stumbles back a little. “Oh god, you’re serious” Liam’s pitch turns suspiciously squeaky and his eyes grow frantic, although he calmly presses the close button on the elevator and watches the doors slide shut.

“Of course I’m serious! Why would I joke about something so important?”

“Okay…” Liam mumbles, mostly to himself at this point.“Okay. Harry, you-you know what he is right?”

“Yeah,” Harry frowns impatiently, “He’s my mate. I told you that two minutes ago, Liam.”

He didn’t have time for this bickering. Harry had waited _years_ for this to happen to him. And now that he’d found his mate, had to _claim_ him and _fuck_ him and _breed_ him. He needed to mark his beautiful body so nobody can lay their eyes on his boy and not realise he’s _Harry’s_.

“No!” Liam almost shouts. He looks wild now, scared out of his mind and that snaps Harry back quickly. “No, he’s _human_.”

“He is?” Harry says, unbothered. Out of all of this, that was the last thing he could care about now. He doesn’t understand Liam at this point; any other second-in-command would be over the moon that their leader had found his soulmate. Their clan was finally complete!

“Harry! Look, I know it’s an amazing feeling to be bonded and you’re probably riding a high right now and your brain is spaced out and fuzzy and all that shit. But _please_ , you need to stay with me.” Liam shakes at Harry’s shoulders, his tone desperate. The contact acts like a little jolt of electricity, and it clears the vamp’s head a little.

“Harry, I know it’s hard right now, but… I just- _Think_ … This is _dangerous_. Your mate is human. Not a fertile. _Human_.”

Human.

His mate is a human.

“Liam…” Harry’s eyes widen a little, the implications finally sinking in.

“Yeah, happy to have you back, mate.”

Oh shit.

How could this _happen_?

His mate is human.

“What the fuck do we _do_?”

The thing is, everybody knew being associated with Harry meant danger.

The dom had made countless enemies in his lifetime - people whose cruelty shouldn’t be doubted even for a _second_ \- and his mate would become their prime target.

Of course they’d all expected this beforehand. The clan had already made plans to double, even triple, the already-huge size of their security team after Harry soulbonded.

But the clan had _also_ assumed that their leader’s mate would be a fertile.

Being human meant being much more physically vulnerable in so many different ways. He couldn’t be left alone for even a second without constantly fearing an attack.

Not to mention the overwhelming public pressure that comes with the clan's fame and fortune. The media would rip his mate to shreds; turn him into a laughing stock and target just like they turned Harry into a womanizing monster. On top of _that_ , he was a employee at Harry’s firm. All sorts of preposterous stories would surely surface if they made their bond public.

“Hide him.” Liam says.

“I can’t fucking _hide_ my mate, Liam. You know that! We need them by our side!”

“I know! I know… I meant–”

The elevator dings, signalling they’ve arrived on the second floor. Liam leads Harry past the offices, taking a series of complicated turns before breaking out into a storage room.

“How do you know this place?” Harry looks around at the tiny closet-like room, momentarily sidetracked.

“Good memory, remember?” Liam grins as he gropes around a little for the light switch.

Harry nods, before remembering the discussion at hand, “As you were saying?”

Liam sighs, “You _can_ hide him _and_ keep him close, Harry.”

Harry motions to tell Liam he’s listening.

“It’s simple."

"It Is?"

"Don’t tell anyone apart from the clan about your relationship, move your back here, and make him your personal assistant.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMMENTS ARE DA BEST!!


	5. They've got the boxes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is kinda rushed. Please overlook the mistakes, I completed this at three in the morning and it was hell to edit, especially with my bad English (TwT)
> 
> P.S: All the place names in this chapter I picked at random because I don't live in England and don't know very many places there, so please don't kill me if I spelt something wrong!! :))

Louis:

When Louis eventually snaps out of it, he only has three minutes left to pack all his stuff and head up to the top floor.

Careful to keep his head down, the brunette scurries towards his desk and grabs the first thing that comes within hand’s reach, shoving it haphazardly into the small cardboard box he keeps by the side of the dustbin.

He was still unsure as to whether this was actually happening. He was going to be Mr. Styles’ assistant? What did that even mean? He remembered Danielle declaring that Harry Styles was only in London for a few days to check up on the firm, and then he would return to his headquarters overseas.

And most importantly, Louis still can’t wrap his head around the fact that he hadn’t been fired yet - even after the major stunt he’d just pulled. Although he doesn’t know specifically the boundaries, what would be considered unacceptable and would definitely get someone fired, he’d expected the stakes at Styles Co. to be extremely high and a mistake like this shouldn’t even be debatable. The employee should be fired in a blink of an eye.

And obviously he wasn’t the only one who thought so.

He could see from his peripheral vision people craning their necks to have a good look at what he’s doing, murmuring to each other in bewilderment and gaping shamelessly as if he had suddenly grown an extra head.

To think vamps were supposed to be the subtle ones.

“Ignore them.” It was Niall, who’d once again appeared soundlessly next to Louis out of thin air. Okay, maybe some vampires are a tad _too_ subtle.

“They’re just being gossipy.” The Irishman states, “Although you can’t really blame them, this _is_ a little surprising.”

“Niall, look,” Louis begins, “I’m _so_ sorry for getting you in trouble. It’s so stupid and I’m so _clumsy_ all the bloody time and now you have to take all the blame for it when none of it was your fault! I really didn’t know h-“

“It’s okay. I’m not in trouble at all.”

“Really?" Louis regards Niall suspiciously, "What happened?”

“He told me to sit down, asked a bunch of questions about you, and then thanked me for ‘looking after you’, whatever that meant, but the whole corridor incident wasn’t even brought up once. He was perfectly pleasant and certainly not angry.” Niall explains. He was still sorting Louis's stationary neatly into the box and avoiding eye contact.

Louis’s frown deepens. He can’t say he’s particularly good at reading people, because he isn’t, but what Niall was saying didn't really add up. He had been acting all weird and twitchy since he came out of that office. Granted, it could be that he was annoyed at being dragged into something that he had no fault in, but Louis can't shake off the feeling that the fertile was hiding something from him.

“I thought you said he was stern.”

“He is!” A voice pipes up beside them. Louis jumps, glancing up to see Rick, face bright red at being caught eavesdropping, but manages to throw in an indignant “What? You humans shout when you talk!” nonetheless, as if that explains everything.

Louis raises his eyebrows sceptically. His way of saying _“Your excuse is bullshit.”_

“I mean, everyone knows about that time he fired an employee in their Germany headquarters because she was allegedly gossiping during working hours,” Rick makes a face, “and she’d been working there for five years.”

“I think that’s why they’re talking,” Niall motions to the still staring group of vamps across the office “They’ve never seen him act so leniently to anyone before.”

“And also when he cut the wage of a receptionist in half cause she was late two days in a row.”

“So why am I still here?”

“I think-“ Rick begins, but Niall cuts him off, waving his hand in the general direction of the digital clock on the opposite wall and muttering,

“Lou, you only have 20 seconds left to get this up to the top floor. You better get going if you don’t wanna keep Mr. Styles waiting.”

One look at the clock told him Niall was right, he only had half a minute left to get to Mr Styles' room.

“Shit.”

 

 

The 22nd floor was much like the fifteenth, except it was plainer and more sombre and so high up that the place was oddly quiet, secluded from the screaming London traffic and congestion miles below them.

Louis had been smart enough to ask for instructions from Niall as to which room was Harry Styles’ before making his way up, so he wasted no time knocking on the huge double doors of the dom’s office.

Louis enters the room after receiving a quiet “Come in”, closing the door hesitantly because he didn’t know what to expect, and Rick’s helpful little stories were still swirling around in his head and freaking him out a little.

The room was large and plain, and although it was spotless-clean like any other in the firm, it looked like it hadn’t been used in a long time.

Harry Styles was sitting on one the plush sofas in the corner, Mac in hand and looking like the modern embodiment of a Greek god; the thin, coffee-free shirt he’d changed into enunciating the bulge of his biceps and the outline of his abs. The intern can’t help but wonder what it would feel like, to be encased in those strong arms, to lean against his chiselled chest, to be bent over-

Okay, not the point.

The point was whether or not he could say enough of the right things to salvage his job and keep a roof over his head… Although he’s not sure how much of an apology he could get out when he _already_ feels slightly weak at the knees just _looking_ at this man.

It was just - how can a person be so intimidating and so _beautiful_ all at the same time?

With the way dusty rays of light filtering in through the half-shut window brings out the immaculate cut of his cheekbones, his sculpted jawline and the startling green of his eyes, the colour that reminded Louis of deep forest pools and rolling down hills in the spring as a child…

“Louis, right?”

Louis jerks in surprise, almost not recognising the voice. Harry Styles sounded so different here; he spoke in a slower, sweeter tone in contrast to the commanding way he’d barked out his orders just a few minutes ago.

“Leave your box over there.” Harry Styles points to a corner of the room where there were already a few boxes stacked up neatly, “And take a seat.”

There was a chair opposite the dom, where Louis plops down awkwardly, waiting for the chance to blurt out the apology he’d hastily put together in his mind.

Harry Styles shuts his laptop and slides it neatly onto the table in front of them, crossing his legs and giving Louis a smile.

Louis attempts to smile back, but it turns out into a painful grimace. He swipes it off immediately.

“So… We didn’t get off to a very good start.”

“Yes, sir. I apolo-“

“So tell me a bit about yourself.”

What-?

Okay… Was this some sort of test?

He’s heard his mom mention a few times how vamps liked to toy with humans like that, make them confused just for the fun of it, because they were so gullible and easy to embarrass.

But Mr Styles didn’t seem like that type of person.

“How are you finding it? Niall told me you just joined us yesterday.”

“Yes, sir. It’s been-” Louis gulps. “good.”

“So do you live with your parents? Where did you go to school?” A thoughtful pause, “You must have done really well to get to here.”

“No, sir. I live alone. I have a flat in Hounslow.” Louis used to cringe when he had to say that name; it was easily the cheapest and dirtiest neighbourhood in London. But then he reminded himself about how they had gotten there, how much money his mother had owed just to get that modest little flat for the both of them after his father had died.

And Harry Styles doesn’t seem to care, his expression remains neutral.

“And I went to Lampton High sir. It says on my CV.”

Harry Styles nods, retrieving a piece of paper from the folder in front of him. By the looks of it, it was Louis’s job application he’d emailed to the firm a few weeks ago.

“It says you’ve graduated top of your form? Scholarship to a university?”

“Yes, sir.”

“So why are you working here?”

“Erm…”

Nobody had asked him this in the job interview. They never questioned him about his ambitions, his dreams. In fact, they barely asked him any questions at all. It was just so... personal and he’s torn between answering honesty and risk being pitied.

“I-I don’t have the financial ability, sir. I was thinking maybe when I’ve saved up enough from this job I might be able to get a degree when I’m older.” Louis lifts his head.

Another nod.

“So about the position-"

“S-sir… if I could, erm I-I’m terribly sorry for the… incident in the elevator. I wasn’t looking and I tripped ruined your shirt, an-and I know I’m lucky it wasn’t a customer.” Louis draws in a ragged breath. He was shaking, and he honestly feels like he’s going to throw up his lunch with how scared he was, but he knew he had to be honest.

“And I knew exactly where the toilets were, sir, Niall showed me around on the first day. I just- I didn’t want to be recognised and get into trouble so I lied…I thought you’d want to… reconsider this before you give me this job.” Louis finishes. He can’t believe he’d just thrown this opportunity out the window, but he had to be honest.

“I know what you did,” Harry Styles replies easily, chuckling. “You’re a really bad liar, Louis. But I’m still offering you a position here”

“Thank you, sir, but…”

“Because I know everyone makes mistakes, and deserves a second chance, no matter who it is. You’re obviously hardworking and willing to admit that it was your fault. I think you have great...potential. I want to help you.”

“I-“ Louis stutters, baffled.

“But consider this the last time. I don’t expect this to happen again. If it does I will not be as tolerant.”

And it finally- _finally_ hits him that this man was serious. He would be the clan leader’s assistant. Relief floods his body like a tidal wave and suddenly that he can’t stop a shit-eating grin from splitting open his face. It wasn't so much because this was kind of a promotion. He was just so happy he got to stay.

“Thank you. Thank you, sir.” He probably looks like a loon right now with how hard he’s smiling, but he couldn’t care less, “It won’t happen again.”He rambles, but stopping short when he doesn’t receive an answer.

Louis peers up, smile faltering, to see if he’d managed to say something wrong again. Had he overstepped?

Harry Styles was staring right back at him. There was a weird look in his  eyes as they bore into Louis’ faded blue ones, unblinking. If Louis didn’t know better, he’d say it looked a little like … tenderness.Eyes like the ocean on a stormy day, emerald with a tinges of blue, grey and silver. Louis allows himself to get lost in them for just a second...

And then abruptly it was all too much, too intense. For some weird reason Louis suddenly felt like an intruder, like he was seeing too much, like he was interrupting something… intimate. And he realises where he was. He looks away, shifting uncomfortably.

“Sir? Mr. Styles?”

“Ehem- what?” the vamp blinks, his face flushed. “Oh…err. Yes, that’s great.” Harry shakes his head a little, and his curls fly out from the lose man bun they’d been in previously.

They looked so soft and fluffy.

Louis had to hold back the urge to reach out and run a finger through them to see if they feel as smooth and silky as they look.

“Right, you will be here seven sharp in the morning, with cup of cappuccino, no sugar and a muffin. As for today, you can have the rest of the evening off.” His voice was brisk and formal again. Cold.

Louis shrinks back, confused as to what he'd done that had triggered the sudden mood change. Eventually, he nods to show he’d understood, and lets himself out.

 

Harry: 

Harry was still on the phone with Lisa, instructing her to send all his important paperwork and files back to London as soon as possible so he can start assembling an office here, when Liam bursts unceremoniously into the room.

“You called for a clan meeting tonight?” Liam says in lieu of a greeting.

Harry doesn’t reply, because the other vamp already knew the answer.

Liam regards Harry quietly, obviously contemplating if he should open his mouth or not “Nick is still in Alaska. You can’t expect him to drop everything and fly back here?”

Harry huffs. This was starting to annoy him, Liam being so invested in his decisions. Liam was second in command; he shouldn’t even be able to question the clan leader’s judgement.

There was so much Harry needed to do and so little time to do it in, especially in this state where his mind was still riled up and body unable to relax after being in such close proximity with his mate but not being able to touch him. It went against every instinct inside him, but he didn’t want to scare Louis away

It was why he’d sent Louis home early; he needed time to pull himself together and control his urges to make sure he doesn’t tackle the tiny human boy to the ground and strip him and risk getting him seriously hurt every time Harry sees him.

“Nick _will_ drop everything and fly back here because his clan should always come first.”

Liam seemed to have noticed he’d overstepped, because the dom quickly amends “Of course, I just meant everyone is in a different continent right now and it would take time to travel back. Why don’t you wait a few days first?”

Harry shakes his head tiredly, hand reaching up to massage his temple. This wasn’t even a question; the clan needed to be warned before all the bullshit hits them, and the last thing Harry wanted was for one of them to find out through the papers or some sort of rumour.

Not to mention that this was an important phase in Harry’s life; he wanted the closest, most important people to him to be the first to know.

Sensing the thoughts racing through Harry’s mind, Liam’s expression immediately softens, realising how insensitive he’d been.

“Well, did you tell Louis yet?” the dom tactfully changes the subject, “Maybe we could ask him to come with you and introduce him to everyone! Would it be too soon? ”

“I’m not telling him.”

“You’re not- What?”

“What do you expect me to say to him? You’re my soulmate and you’re more important to me than anything else in the world. We’re going to get married and spend the rest of our lives together although we’ve only just met? That would totally _not_ freak him out.”

“But-“

“He’s a human, Liam. Means that he doesn’t feel the instant connection we do. Means he doesn’t soulbond at first sight. Means I have to get him to _fall in love_ with me first, before I get to do everything else.”

Liam pauses, presumably ‘assessing’ this information thoroughly, before asking “So you have to do the – what do they call it? - flirting and… dating and shit?”

“Yes Liam, I have to flirt and date and shit.” Harry rolls his eyes. Liam was extremely smart, but he can also be purposefully obtuse sometimes. “Now are you just going to stand there or are you going to help me? We need everything moved into the building by tomorrow.”


	6. They are the hunters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know its been _forever ___since I last posted and I'm sooo sorry. Thank you soo much to all the lovely people patiently waiting for updates and I'll try to make them quicker in the future, but I can't make any promises.  
>  Admittedly this chap is a little short but I wanted to get something up :b  
> 

Harry:

In the end everyone _does_ turn up, despite all Liam’s worries, and despite the fact that this was peak season. Harry knows most of them were expected to be at their offices eighteen hours a day non-stop if they were to even _begin_ to dream of getting all their work done.

Everyone looks haggard and drawn. Harry could understand. He knows how it feels to be carrying the crushing weight of responsibility on his shoulders, the reputation they had to constantly uphold every day for being part of the most influential clan on earth.

But the familiar bright smiles that appear on their faces at seeing each other reminds Harry why the Styles clan still remains so close even if their multi-billion dollar brand scattered them across five different continents.

And after everyone had finished dinner, the entire Styles household graciously pretends to be surprised when Harry stands up from his chair at the head of the long table and announces he’s found his soulmate, although didn’t take a lot to tell everyone knew beforehand. Either from Anne (who Harry had broken the news to the minute he pulls into her driveway) or caught on from the way Harry couldn’t _quite_ wipe the love-struck expression off his face.

Nevertheless, he receives deafening cheers and a standing ovation.

Then everyone sits down again and stares at him expectantly.

“So… Where’s the lucky fertile?” Cara asks, after several minutes of heavy silence. Liam twitches next to him.

“My… _mate_ couldn’t make it today.” Harry says levelly, neatly folding the napkin on the table into quarters on his lap.

“Oh…”

“Which clan are they from?” Selena pipes up from opposite Cara, head propped up by her hands and wearing an excited grin. Everyone else around the table wore mirroring looks of curiosity, craning their necks to see if someone would magically appear out of thin air beside their dom.

Harry hesitates, pondering over what the best way to tell them was; do it swiftly and get it over with, or ease it on them slowly and down-play the situation so it wouldn’t seem that big of a deal?

In the end, he went with the former. “He’s not from a clan.”

“So it’s a he.” Nick smirks, the same time as Cara yelps “He’s a rogue?!”

“No. He’s not a rogue.”

A collective intake of breath.

Liam coughs uncomfortably.

Harry can almost physically _see_ it, the gears turning in their heads as everyone clambers to fit together the pieces.

It starts with a little gasp of recognition from his mom. Perrie’s hands fly up to cover her mouth, knocking over the tall glasses and spilling wine all over the table in the process. It stains the expensive tablecloth in red, but hardly anyone notices. Everyone else were staring wide-eyed, a look of realization and utter disbelief dawning on their faces.

“He’s not in a clan. And he’s not a rogue.” Nick recaps rather unnecessarily.

“He’s not a vampire at all.” His mother whispered, her face now several shades paler. She looks like she might cry, and Jade gets off her chair to give Anne a hug.

“He’s human?” Perrie says finally, her voice weak and watery.

The words seemed to hang in the air between them like poisonous gas.

What frustrated him most were the thoughts he could feel circling, unspoken, in their minds in association to his mate being human.

_Weakness. Vulnerability._

When the Louis who’d stumbled into his office a few hours earlier was anything but. He was the most vibrant, most beautiful person Harry had seen in a while, with the way he lights up the room when he walks in and the shy smile he flashes when he’s complimented. A smile that oozes innocence and optimism.

A little tear rolled down the side of his mother’s cheek, and her thin hands fly to her face to quickly wipe it away, hoping that because she was on the other side of the table her son might not catch it. But of course he did.

Harry forcibly releases his grip on the glass of wine, afraid if he kept a hold on it longer he might unintentionally crush it.

That would make an unnecessary mess.

He feels like pounding head against a wall in frustration, because this was exactly the reaction that he didn’t want. He could deal with shock and confusion and maybe even denial, but not tears. Not sadness.

This was supposed to be the happiest time of his life, and he should have his clan – his family – to be supportive, to be happy for him.

He knows that technically, as leader, he calls all the shots.

He’d soulbonded with Louis, and whether the clan liked it or not they would have to accept the human into their ranks regardless of their personal opinions of him. But that wasn’t the type of relationship Harry wanted for his family and his mate. He hated that they thought any less of Louis, that they faulted him because of something he had no control over, because he was born with a beating heart.

“Yes.” Harry says finally, looking at each and every member of his clan in the eye with no shame in his tone whatsoever. He wasn’t going to apologize for who his mate was and he certainly wasn’t going to avoid saying it as if it were a dirty word. “Yes, he’s human.”

The dom pushes his chair back and stands up stiffly. Suddenly, the tension became oppressive, choking, and he didn’t want to deal with this any longer.

“Excuse me.” He mutters, mostly to himself. He could make out from the corner of his eye Liam sending him warning looks, as if wordlessly demanding him to sit back down.

The clan leader walks out, leaving stunned silence in his wake.

 

Louis:

Louis learns the next day that news traveled _very_ quickly in this firm. It felt like he had showed work with a neon sign reading " _Look at me, I drowned possibly the most powerful vampire in the fucking world in coffee yesterday. And I'm still breathing!_ " plastered to his forehead. 

Tim the guard gawked as Louis made his way past the main entrance. Anne the receptionist gawked as he shuffled his way in. Susanne the cleaner gawked. Bob the bald manager from floor one gawked.

Unsuprisingly, Louis hates it.

It feels like every one of his awkward, jerky movements and all of his (many) flaws were being tracked and scrutinized under microscopic lenses. It leaves his skin itching in the most invasive way.

As soon as he makes it through the glass double doors, Louis sprints blindly towards the elevators, punching the close button with unnecessary force and only breathing a loud sigh of relief after the lift starts moving, glad that he's somewhat escaped the judgmental glares for a moment.

He righted himself clumsily, wiping the sweat off his forehead with an equally sweaty hand. 

It was only after he was passing about the fifth floor that he realised there were two buttons pressed on the

"Oh, hello!" a jolly voice breaths right next to his ear.

And he  _shrieks_ – a very manly shriek, thank you very much - leaping a feet in the air and banging his head painfully against the glass wall of the elevator.

"Oh shit, Sorry! Are you alright?!" the voice curses, tone apologetic. Louis can't believe he hadn't been able to sense that another person was in the elevator with him the entire ride up. But then again, the elevator was so fucking _big_ and this person had been so still and silent that it should be unsurprising his dull human senses hadn't been able to register it.

Louis has a nagging feeling that if he hadn't been carrying a Starbucks bag full of Mr. Styles' orders he would have clawed said person's eyes out. 

Louis turns, somewhat warily, with his free hand clutching at his heart through the thin shirt he was wearing.

And almost screams again.

The dom was certainly familiar, because he was the same one that had accompanied Harry Styles yesterday. Liam Payne- was it? It had seemed like ages ago that everyone on the fifteeth floor were huddled around Niall’s desk discussing his arrival.

They blink at each other. It took Louis a little too long to realize he was staring wide-eyed at this man like a weirdo, saying nothing and not even apologizing to him for screaming in his ear like a girl.

“You must the famous Louis.” Liam Payne says finally.

"Yes, sir." Louis tries for a relaxed smile to cover up the burning embarrassment of humiliating himself in front of this ridiculously handsome man.

It doesn't work. It sort of feels like he'd just cramped a side of his face.

Liam holds out a hand, which Louis stares at for a good ten seconds before summoning enough courage to shakily hold his own out and take it.

"Liam Payne."

"Louis Tomlinson, sir." Louis says quietly, before immediately mental-facepalming himself. Because _of course he knows your name, you idiot, he just referred to you by it!_

The elevator lets out a muffled ding.

"That's my cue!" the dom lets out a little laugh, his eyes crinkling and suddenly he didn't look so intimidating. "It's been good meeting you!"

"You too, sir." Louis whispers. 

And then, as if an idea had suddenly popped into his head, the vamp hesitates. Turning around, he gives the stunned intern an exaggerated wink;

"Welcome to the family, Louis." he grins, before the elevators closes with a metallic hum.

 And that statement leaves Louis both confused, and, for some reason, wildly happy for the rest of the ride up.

 

 

Louis had been determined to redeem himself, starting from the first day he came back to work as Harry Style’s assistant. He’d practiced it all in front of his beloved cracked mirror at home.

The smooth entrance he would make the next day, the professional attitude in which he would present himself, and how he would work tirelessly show his new boss that he wasn’t just some clumsy human boy who treats his job like to a joke.

In reality, Louis knocks at the wooden double-doors leading into the dom’s office sweaty and disoriented, having been shuffling outside in the corridor for almost five minutes just to get his nerves to subside enough to enter.

Fucking human hormones.

He then waits outside for another two minutes, wondering if he’d come in too early and the clan leader hadn’t arrived yet. The intern was about to sit down on one of the plastic chairs to wait when the door swung open briskly in his face and the human boy find himself face to face with a very annoyed Harry Styles.

“Tomlinson, I’ve called for you to come in five times.”

Oh.

“Really?” Louis blurts, frowning, before remembering his place.

“Er, I mean, I’m sorry, s-sir.” Louis scratches his head in confusion, “I, uh, didn’t hear anything.” The confession leaves him feeling like an utter fool, because of course he hadn’t heard anything. He had blunt human hearing, yet he’d decided to stand two feet away from the door. Mr Styles turns away and walks back in, but even from behind Louis can see he was shaking his head in annoyance.

There goes his grand entrance.

And things didn’t get any better when Harry reaches down to take the coffee bag from Louis to find his muffin partially crushed by the positioning of the coffee cup.

“What is this?” Harry whips around incredulously, pinching the deformed muffin between his long fingers.

“Er, your muffin?” Louis forces a laugh, shrugging his shoulders.

The dom did _not_ look impressed.

"Erm, perhaps it is a  _tiny_ bit squashed."

After inspecting the offending object for several more seconds, somewhat disbelievingly, Mr. Styles holds it at arms length, about to drop it into the large metal dustbin next to his desk.

“No, wait!” Louis blurts loudly, “I-I could eat that, sir, if you don’t want it.”

The dom stops dead in his tracks, surprised, hands still outstretched.

“Excuse me?” he demands, more out of curiosity than anger.

“It’s wasteful to throw edible food away.” Louis feels stupid saying this. This man probably owns enough money to buy off the entire country, and here Louis was, lecturing him about something as trivial as getting rid of a squished muffin.

He doesn’t receive an answer, so hesitantly, he explains.

“It’s not always easy to find food where we lived. My mom told me always to keep anything edible, cause we would always need it for later.” Louis admits, adverting his eyes and desperately hoping his cheeks weren’t heating up. _He doesn't give a fuck about your personal sob story, you pathetic loser. He doesn't care about that! Why would he?_

And for a split second, Louis was certain he would be scolded. For wasting Harry’s time. For thinking he could lecture his boss.

But instead, he feels a muffin being laid gently into his hand.

“Sure, you can have it.” Harry says eventually.

“Now, I don’t believe I’ve properly introduced this position to you.” The dom motions to a new mahogany table in the corner, much like his own, but smaller in size and with nothing on it. “Sit. This will be your new desk.”

Louis stares in surprise, because he’d been under the impression that he would work on one of the reception desks outside, much like Megan (Liam’s PA) did on the floor below them.

“So,” Mr Styles claps his hands together, “personal assistants often act as the first point of contact for managers. That means you will be receiving all the phone calls, creating daily schedules, etcetera. You will start with creating reports today.”

“Yes, sir.” Louis nods. He’s read all of this at home – finally something that actually became useful. “And how long will I be in this position for?”

“What?” the dom frowns.

“Erm, how long will I be doing this for?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Sir, I’m just an intern. I assumed you’d want someone more experienced to do this job? I was, uh, under the impression I would fill up the space until you found someone more qualified.”

Mr Styles shakes his head, lifting a stack of folders from his desk and settling them gracefully onto Louis’s.

“No. This position is permanent. I know I’ve said yesterday that this job will prepare you to return to your old department. But I no longer think that would be necessary.”

“So…”

“So from now, instead of working for the law firm, you will be working exclusively for me.”

 

Turns out working for Mr. Styles even _harder_ than he'd initially anticipated. It was definitely way beyond the work limitations of any intern. As an intern, Louis would spend all day filing and photocopying documents, helping out the other employees in the department, and sometimes maybe the odd spreadsheet here and there.

But being a personal assistant meant constantly being on his feet, sorting out a million meetings and appointments a day and arranging them into a comprehensible schedule, while still leaving a reasonable margin of error. It meant taking notes during conferences and phone calls from clients during Harry's breaks and lunches.

And even then, Louis had begun to notice that he wasn't doing nearly as much work as Megan. She always came in earlier than him, but they finish at roughly the same time.

Two days into the job, he'd confronted Mr. Styles about this.

“Sir?”

“What?” Harry says, distracted. He didn’t pause from typing, hands still flying over the keyboard at an inhuman (pun intended) speed.

Louis better make this quick, just from the last two days alone he’d learnt that the dom didn’t like being interrupted when he’s working, especially on a contract as important as SMG.

“S-sir, _IwouldlikeyoutogivemethefullworkloadpleaseIreallythinkIcanhandleit_.”

At the pace of which Louis was rambling, any normal person wouldn’t have caught a word of that, but of course, this was Harry Styles he was talking about.

Mr Styles finally diverts his gaze from the computer screen, looking up at Louis levelly. “What makes you think I’m not giving you the full workload?”

“Well, I’m human, and I go home the same time as Megan does. I know I’m not actually that quick, sir. And I remember Niall saying that the first few days of work I should be staying till midnight trying to get everything done in time.”

“So you want to go home later than Megan?”

“No, sir. I want the same amount of work as Megan. We get the same pay, even when I’m just an intern and she’s been working here for years. I think I ought to do my job properly.”

Mr. Styles had stared at him for a full minute, a strange expression on his face. Before wordlessly lifting a kilo worth of folders from his desk and dunking them onto Louis.

“I expect this proof-read, handed to Barbara to sign and given back to me before tomorrow morning. All folders in chronological order.”

This resulted in Louis spending almost every waking moment of his day in the office, scrambling to complete the day's work so they don't pile up on one another.

He'd eat at the company. Sometimes sleep at the company, to wake up the next day with his mouth tasting like dirt and a crick in his neck because he'd been bent over the desk for so long. And he’d learnt now to always bring extra clothes in case he woke up too late to quickly run back to his flat and change before working hours start. 

 

The only time of the day that he seemed to be free were lunch breaks, where Louis was allowed twenty minutes to buy food or go to the toilet, and rest his poor hands (which would usually feel like lead by this time with all the constant typing and writing).

For the first few days Louis brought his food back up to Harry's office to eat while the dom was out in some fancy restaurant down the street with Mr. Payne.

But in all honesty he hated eating in there. It was something about the stifling silence that would encase the room whenever Harry wasn’t in it, that made him lose his appetite.

On the fourth day, Louis braved going down and eating lunch on the fifteenth floor with Niall and Danielle. He had been avoiding going anywhere other than to and from Harry's office since the day he got the new position, just to keep away from the whispering that seemed to follow him everywhere he went.

But he supposes it’s been a few days now, and people would have most likely forgotten the shameful incident and moved on to more interesting gossip.

Louis is proven wrong the minute he walks past the double doors of his old department. All the employees stop what they’re doing and stare.

And, as always, no one had decency to be subtle about either. The entire room falls dead silent at once as all eyes turn the small human boy. And, as he’s said before, it’s unnerving and invasive.

Trying his best to act unfazed and keep his breathing as even as humanly possible, Louis resolutely ignores them all. He should be used to this by now, considering it happens almost every day down in the reception and main entrance. Instead he concentrates on walking to the back of the office where he could see Niall already smirking at him over Danielle’s head.

Niall, Rick and Danielle were sitting huddled together in a corner, with an unfamiliar blonde in Louis normal seat.

Looks like he isn’t so irreplaceable after all.

As Louis comes close enough to be in earshot, Niall pitches his voice to the highest volume and whisper screams; “Oh, look! The celebrity’s decided to grace us with his presence today!”

“Shut up, you bastard.”

Niall cackles, because as always, he’s immune to any sort of insult, and pulls out a chair for Louis to sit on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the URL to the Chinese translation written by Terence http://tieba.baidu.com/p/4332795471?lp=5028&mo_device=1&is_jingpost=0  
> I tried to put in a link but it kept glitching so I had to add it in this way :((


	7. We are the foxes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much explaining in this chapter. I've tried to keep those parts relatively short so it doesn't become boring, but tell me what you guys think :DD

It feels good to be back down here with them. Don’t get him wrong, the last few days had been surreal, and of course Louis was grateful for the promotion. But sometimes the mounting strain of all the work and the pressure to get things correctly done first try can be a little much.

“Lou Lou hadn’t forgotten us, I see.” Danielle snickers. “Too boring at the top, darling?” She pinches a bit of his sushi in her manicured thumb and forefinger, observing it closely before popping it into her mouth. Louis rolls his eyes, but lets her.

“Nooo. It’s so fucking stressful.” Louis complains, somewhat bitchily. It was his fault, after all, for asking Mr. Styles for more work. “Lunch break is the only time I’m free, actually.”

“Aw. Poor baby.” Danielle tsks, though the dom didn’t look at all sympathetic.

Louis chuckles, turning inwards so that he’s crammed into their little huddle, where he was now directly opposite the unfamiliar blonde girl. He nods a polite hello and she smiles back brightly, extending her hand.

“Henry.” She says, and her voice was soft and clear, eyes shining “Nice to meet you.”

Definitely a fertile.

It’s funny (and kind of creepy) how Louis had learned to tell apart the two classifications better than perhaps vamps themselves. It’s probably because throughout his school life, he’s only ever been taught about vamp biology; how doms were strong and fast and protective, and fertiles were smart and loving and perfect mates. He had to passed multiple test for his A Levels based on how to recognize which category a vamp fell into by their stance and tone and stature and body language, alone.

Never about his own race, though. There was never a course throughout high school where he taught how his body worked – the human build and his strength and weaknesses. He had come home to his mother discouraged, complaining to her about the time he had to devote to learning about something that did nothing to help him with the changes he was going through.

Doesn’t matter. He had always liked stuff like math and physics better, anyways.

“You’re Louis, right?” She says, cutting through his thoughts.

“Yeah.” He says distractedly.

 _Henry_. What a unconventional name. It’s probably wrong and shitty of him to stereotype and all that, but all fertiles he knows strive appear extremely feminine – even Niall, in a way – to match with their classification. From the way they dress and talk to the smallest things like-

“It’s Henrietta, actually.” She laughs lightly at his perplexed expression.

“Oh, errr….” The human boy blushes bright red at being called out, “S-sorry. I didn’t mean to-“

“I know, it’s not a very traditional name, but then again, I wasn’t born in a very traditional family.”

“Henry here was born to a human father.” Niall chimes in, speaking around a mouthful of pepperoni pizza. And yes, vamps eat pizza too.

“What?!-Woow.” Louis blurts, eyes growing even wider, “Is that even possible? How do they-” before slapping a hand over his mouth.

_Good going, Tomlinson. Now you just sound a like a judgmental arsehole._

“Well, I’m here aren’t I? And it was pretty normal, anyways. Mum was from a relatively small clan from the countryside, so pretty much nobody cared. After the initial shock everyone moved on, and now they’re really happy.”

Louis nods, in awe. He didn’t know there was a part of society that could be so accepting. The large majority of people viciously oppose marriage between vamps and humans for a variety of reasons. Some of it was just downright discrimination, but most were out of concern, for the human in particular, because it was very easy to get hurt.

“That’s amazing.” He smiles. He wonders how much better society would be, if everyone were as supportive and open-minded as Henry’s family.

He was about to tell her this, when Danielle yelps quietly.

“Niall, I-is the witch waving at me?”

“Caroline? Yeah. What the fuck? Did you do something?”

“No! What could I have done?” She stands up hastily, scurrying over.

“I bet she sent Caroline the wrong report again. She’s really clumsy for a dom.” Niall cackles, eyes following Danielle’s stiff movements as she ambles her way over.

“Agreed.” Rick laughs. He’d stayed quiet for the last fifteen minutes, content on tucking into his food and listening silently. “Just don’t piss her off though. I almost shit my pants that time she shouted at me for forgetting her files.”

“What?” Louis asks, astounded. “Dani won’t shout at anybody, she’s a big softie.”

“Huh, that’s what I thought, too.”

“Look, she’s back.” Ni smirks in Danielle’s direction, raising his eyebrows. “That was quick.”

But the goading expression falls from his face as soon as he sees the dom’s expression.

“Louis, back up to Mr Styles’ office right now.” Danielle hisses, running back to their table in a flurry of fabric and perfume.

“Wha- Why?” He blinks, still a little daze at the sudden change in tone.

“Anne Styles is here! Quick, quick!” the dom brunette makes a vicious shooing motion with her hands, red in the face.

“What?! Who?”

“Harry Styles’ mother, you idiot!” Niall pipes in loudly, now sounding equally panicked. “She’s here?” The blonde whips around to Danielle. The two launch into a furious discussion of some sort, speaking so quickly that all the syllables blur together into one unintelligible string of words, mouth blurring from the motion.

But Louis doesn’t hear them either way. He shoots out of his seat, pushing aside his untouched lunch and tripping over his own feet and several tables in his desperate attempt to get to the elevators at twice his normal sprinting speed.

 

 

It’s safe to say first impressions aren’t Louis’ thing. He shut his eyes briefly and tried not to let panic overtake him at the thought of what Mrs. Styles must have thought as she walked into an empty room, the PA nowhere in sight.

It was an unspoken rule that an assistant or a secretary had to be present whenever the boss was out in case any clients made a surprise appearance, and asking the secretary to eat inside the office is not option, so Louis should have known better to leave for more than ten minutes at a time.

The intern burst in the room in the most ungraceful manner, sweating and breathing hard in his rumpled clothes and wind-swept hair.

He imagines he’s made quite a racket coming in, with the way he’d been huffing and flailing.

The conversation inside the room stops abruptly as Mr Styles catches sight of him. Opposite the dom sat a women in her forties, dressed in in a simple white blouse and casual jeans, hands folded neatly on her lap. Louis wouldn’t have recognized her one of the Styles - because she certainly didn’t flaunt it - if he hadn’t seen her face on the cover of _Time_ magazine just last week.

Prior to his entrance, it was obvious they had been in somewhat of a furious argument. Louis doesn’t pride himself in reading people, but the hard look and tense shoulders were unmistakable. Louis pushes past the initial awkwardness of interrupting a private moment to say;

“I’m sorry for interrupting, Mr Styles, madam,” Louis inclines his head respectfully to Anne Styles as well, but she didn’t seem to be paying much attention, her eyes were cloudy and unfocused. “I wasn’t alerted that we had a guest.”

It was a shitty explanation, so Louis waits for the dom to frown and tell him angrily that it didn’t matter if he knew if someone was visiting or not, he should be here at all times since it was technically his job.

Instead Harry gives Louis’ excuse a dismissive flick of his hand. “It’s alright, Louis. Go down and retrieve a hard copy of the contract I sent to Barbara, please.”

At Louis name, Harry’s mother jerks, looking up at him as if she’d just noticed his presence.

She was beautiful, in the way that all vamps were, but intimidating. She wore a warm smile and kind face, yet her clever, glacial blue eyes swept over Louis like a tracking searchlight.

“So you’re Louis?” she asked softly, a weird expression flashing across her face, disappearing as quickly as it had come. The way the question was framed made it sound like she’d heard his name before, but that can’t be right - he’d only worked here for less than a week and he’s pretty sure Mr Styles has better things to do than talk about his intern to his mother.

“Yes, ma’am” Louis replies eventually, trying not to let his amazement show.

Harry clears his throat, “Louis, the documents, please?” The dom says in a strangled tone, as if he’d accidentally swallowed something sharp.

“Yes, sir.” Louis nods, before turning dutifully to Anne Styles; “Would you like tea or coffee, madam?”

“I-no, darling. I don’t need anything. Thank you.”

Louis nods a second time, breathing a sigh of relief that she didn’t seem too unimpressed with him and leaves as quietly as he can.

 

Harry:

“He’s beautiful, Harry.” His mother says sadly, after the door had shut behind the PA. To which the dom nods jerkily in agreement. Because Anne is absolutely correct.

Louis is gorgeous.

He was the most precious thing Harry had ever laid eyes on; pure and innocent and fierce all at the same time.

“They’re going to ruin him.” His mother says, once again. She’s been repeating that argument for the last hour – since she’d first set foot into his office, actually. But Anne says it now with renewed fervor.

Because seeing her Louis for the first time had finally confirmed all her worst fears.

She’d finally seen how just fragile her son’s mate is. How breakable.

“We can’t be so selfish. You can’t be so selfish, Harry.” Anne says, trying hard to return voice returning to a monotonous drawl, devoid of emotion.

Harry fumes, “So you think it’s selfish to fall in love with somebody, mother?”

“If you truly love him, you’ll think for him. He’s one of the few humans who’ve made it into a company like ours. If you take him, they’ll destroy him psychologically. Many even pose a physical threat. How many more times do I have to tell you till you understand?”

“We can protect him, mother. We have all the money and power in the worl-“

“No!” Anne Styles snaps harshly, her face red and eyes glinting. She looks like she could slap him. Harry finds himself constantly in awe of how assertive she could be when she wanted to, despite being a fertile.

“What about me, Harry? What happened in my case? Your father was just as powerful as you are, and he still failed to keep our family together. I still had to live though those eight years-” Anne Styles has to physically snap her mouth shut to stop herself, breathing hard.

She remembers it as if it were yesterday; the shame of public humiliation, the insults and the deafening pain of being separated from her bonded soulmate and her only son.

The thing was, Anne Cox was a rogue before Des Styles met her. She was born with no parents in a time where fertiles were only considered worthy of a certain dom if they had matching family backgrounds. And even then the Styles clan was one with immense influence. So of course she wasn’t accepted. Of course the pain and embarrassment eventually became too much, and she was forced to leave and not return until the death of Des had left her child fatherless.

“Mom, we don’t have to tell anyone. We could keep quiet until our bond is strong enough to withhold all of the public attention.”

“Harry, you don’t understan-“

“Mom,” Harry sighs, frustration straining his voice. He can taste coppery blood in his mouth from accidently crushing part of his lip as he grits his teeth to stay calm. “what do you want me to do? Give up on us and live in misery because the rest of the world wants to talk?”

“Harry-“

“No! Enough.” Harry slips unintentionally into his dom voice, which he bites back hastily because even though he doesn’t agree with her, he knows Anne meant well. “I’m going to protect him, mother, don’t worry. But I’m also going to mate him.”

 

Louis:

Louis thinks it was the appearance of Anne Styles that set it off. Employees in Styles Co. who had been doubtful and disbelieving before were now completely convinced that this move was in fact permanent. And the talking increased tenfold. Within the next few days the news of Harry’s move had spread to almost all their other headquarters overseas, carrying Louis’ humiliating coffee incident with it.

And unsurprisingly, by the end of two weeks news broke to the press.

And _that_ set off a firestorm.

Louis found it somewhat ridiculous, how Mr Styles was making front page after front page of gossip magazines and business newspapers alike, worldwide, for something as trivial as relocating headquarters. Even if people kept reminded him (mostly by Niall) that Harry was a press magnet, it still doesn’t make sense.

And on top of _that_ , there seemed to be this rumour flying around that the motivation behind clan leader’s decision was that he had finally found his soulmate. Which is supposedly a big deal, according to Niall, because Mr. Styles had been linked to several powerful fertiles in the past, and a bond would mean a possible merge between the fertiles’ clan and the Styles.

For weeks, there would constantly be at least one or two paparazzi lurking outside the firm trying to stealthily snap pictures of his boss, but to be honest they aren’t a tad stealthy if even _Louis_ can spot them hiding behind one of the bushes next to the main gate.

Apart from that, things start to feel more normal for the human boy. Louis had finally succeeded in convincing himself that this wasn’t a dream, and he was indeed was a PA for the most powerful clan leader on earth.

Him, the wimpy little human boy from Hounslow.

Great achievement, that.


	8. Baby, I know places

Louis has a fear of the dark.

It's quite embarrassing now that he thinks about it, but living in the house that he and his mother shared with two other families during his childhood, he’d used to cry like a baby whenever the power cuts out and plunge them unceremoniously into darkness.

That’s why it really isn’t wise for him to be here right now; taking the shortcut back to the apartment through a dark stingy alley at midnight, all on his own. He was powerless to control the anxiety coursing through him as he imagines what could be lurking just beyond the moving shadows, distorted by the rain that was now falling in heavier and thicker sheets. It didn’t help that he couldn’t hear anything either, with the thundering water around him drowning out all other noise. Louis picks up his pace a little, because he was starting to actually shake from the cold; the little rivulets of rainwater dripping down his skin turning into little beads of ice that leeched at his warmth.

Hounslow isn’t exactly known for being the safest of places at night, when the roads were mostly deserted and everyone was asleep. For Louis, it can be especially traumatizing. He always feels as though he’s being followed, or watched, and it makes his skin prickle uncomfortably.

But it doesn't really matter now, since the intern is barely ever home, and he can probably move out of here in a few months if he works hard enough. His first paycheck ever had been transferred to his bank account just last week, and hell, was it a shit ton of money. He didn't even know one could make that much from just being an assistant. But then again, he was talking the richest corporation in the world.

In fact, Louis hadn’t been back to his flat for two weeks straight, choosing instead to spend the majority of his nights in the office or at Niall’s house.

Today, though, he was in a desperate position of sorts. Louis hadn’t had a proper shower in forever, and his dirty clothes were piling up on one another because he never seemed to have enough time to do the laundry properly during his brief visits. He’s going to run out of clean things to wear, soon, and he definitely couldn’t go back tomorrow because they had board meetings all day long (the first one starting at six in the fucking morning).

Niall had offered to give Louis a ride back earlier on, which he’d politely declined, partly because it was too early and he still had a shit-ton of work to do, but mostly because Niall liked to go to work in very flashy cars. And if someone happened to see him walk out of a shiny red Rolls Royce in this neighborhood, his flat would be looted ten times over.

Now more than ever, Louis wishes he was born a vamp. Then he could just flit inside quickly without having to worry about slipping and smashing his face on the wet pavement or something just as damaging. His hands were starting to prune from how long he’s been out in the cold and he’d willingly swap anything right now for a warm bath and the comfort of his bed.

He’s probably going to catch a cold tomorrow, too – his throat feels clogged and swollen already, and his nose was starting to get runny.

Which is clearly going to be _very_ convenient.

For a human, being sick is arguably the most humiliating experience ever. His already noisy body will cough and splutter and sneeze and make the most unflattering noises, and he’ll most likely look like a train wreck for the entire day, not to mention feel like absolute shit. It makes Louis cringe violently, thinking about making a racket in front of a room full of bigwigs tomorrow.

They’ll stare at him as though he’d grown another head right there and then. Well, more so than they already do anyways.

See, vamps don’t get sick the way humans do. They don’t catch the common cold, or fever, and when they do get ill, they do so gracefully. They certainly don’t hack up their lungs or spew snot everywhere. He wonders if he could spare himself the embarrassment and ask Mr Styles for half a day off, have Meghan cover for him since Liam isn’t in tomo-

A soft rustling sounded somewhere just behind him, like the crackling of dry leaves.

Louis’ stomach lurches when he turns around to find nothing there, not even a small rat that could be the culprit.

Swallowing, the human boy hastens his steps, hurrying to almost a jog. It probably isn’t what he’s thinking. Perhaps it _is_ a stray animal, a cat that’s too stealthy for Louis to see or a neighbor’s dog that had somehow wandered out here. But it’s most likely just the wind, carrying the plastic bags and all the litter scattered near the small garbage cans someone had decided to dump there.

But still, better to be safe than sorry.

He had only taken a few more steps, when the rustling sounds again, faster and closer this time.

And this time, Louis freezes in his tracks, heart stuttering as his eyes cloud with fear. Its clear to him now that this isn't just an animal or some sort of debris floating around, because he thinks if he strains his ears hard enough, he could just about make out the soft pitter patter of bare feet against the wet ground.

He’s being followed.

Louis wants to break into a run so bad, his instincts screaming at him to flee the steadily impending threat (that he can’t even see because turning around, or even moving an inch now would risk giving away his location).

But there is a very high chance that this might be a rogue.

And it’s a very, _very_ bad idea to try and outrun one.

His best bet is to stay put and hope it fails to pick up his scent, or pass it off as an animals’, and leave him alone. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, clasping his hands tightly together because they were starting shake, this time not from the cold. Louis prays silently that the heavy smell of rot and the muddy rain would mask his scent, that the darkness will do enough to conceal him. He strains his ears, trying in vain to pick up any sound of movements over the thundering rain.

The frightened boy stands there for what feels like hours, soaked to the bone in icy rainwater and frozen like a deer in headlights, eyes clamped shut and barely daring to breath.

He doesn’t get much of a warning at all, when a hand closes around his throat.

 

Harry: 

The dom had been pacing up and down restlessly in his bedroom for what must have been the majority of the night, and even now at one in the fucking morning he can’t even bring himself to go to bed and lie down for a bit. He needed to rest, he knew that. Tomorrow he had a ridiculous number of meetings to attend to, and showing up to them looking sleep-deprived is not the best way to impress the board of directors.

He’s so _tired_ , too, but this unfamiliar weight in his chest and a weird burning in his gut that had him on edge practically since he’d left the Styles building in the afternoon, made sleeping impossible.

And the thing is, Harry can’t work out what’s wrong.

He could blame it on all the stress from work and his tight schedule, or even all the unwanted media attention he’s getting from the bullshit The Sun spew about a possible merge between the Swift clan and theirs. But Harry knows that’s not it, because believe it or not, he’d had been worst in the past, and he’d been fine back then.

The dom sighs defeatedly, pulling back the silky covers and sliding back in, but he knows sleep won’t come any time soon.

 

Louis:

The human boy was lifted roughly off his feet, all the air crushed out of his lungs as the hand, large enough to circle his entire neck, squeezed harder. Louis opens his mouth, intent on letting out a scream, but only a pathetic gurgling and little puffs of air escape.

It was too dark, and there were raindrops falling directly into his eyes, making him unable to see his attacker properly. All he could make out were ice-blue eyes and a pair of extended fangs.

His arms flail uselessly, blunt fingernails digging into the creature’s course hair and yanking. It didn’t seem to even tickle it, and the iron grip on the human’s throat certainly did not loosen. In fact, if anything, the rogue squeezed harder, intent on snapping the fragile boy in two.

Louis lets out an aborted shriek of pain as he’s slammed against the wall, a pair of fangs sinking deep into the sensitive skin of the his throat, burning white hot like two glowing needles stabbing at his neck. With a feral growl, the vamp starts to drink, blood dribbling messily down it chin and staining it's torn shirt deep red, loud slurping noises echoing back and forth against the walls.

The human boy turns away in disgust, then gasping as the vampire pressed its hands against his throat more roughly to stop him from moving, cutting off his air once again.  

Louis’ eyes fill with tears, hot and wet as they slide down his cheeks, mouth still open in a soundless scream. There was no hope of fighting the rogue; it was too strong and bloodthirsty. The best bet now would be to let it drink its fill, and hopefully it’ll leave him strong enough to survive another few hours until someone comes to find him.

But Louis knew the chances of that happening were slim. It is already a tall order to expect any civilized dom or fertile to exercise self-restraint when they’re exposed to human blood. Rogues will almost _always_ drain their victim.

His arms slump to his side in defeat, grazing something cold and sharp on their way down and causing little beads of blood to form on his fingertips.

He feels his body growing weaker and weaker, lungs burning from not being able to get any air for so long with his windpipe being crushed by rogue’s weight. Little white dots were swimming at the edge of his vision, forming pretty little patterns that kept getting bigger and bigger, and Louis feels himself slipping closer and closer to-

It takes Louis a good fifteen seconds to realize why his fingers were bleeding and exactly what he was touching, but when he does, he’s scrambling to get a better grip... He couldn’t look to make sure with his head was still pinned against the wall, but from what he can feel it was a glass bottle of some sort, smashed in the middle and jagged at the edges, balanced precariously on top of a garbage can.

It takes a little sliding, and he cuts his palm several times in the process, but finally he’s able to get a secure grip of the mouth of the bottle in his palm. His head was spinning and it feels like he was still suck in some sort of fear induced haze when he shakily pulls the bottle above his head and brings it down onto the side of the rogue’s face, aiming at its eyes because Louis remembers from some textbook he’d read that that was their most vulnerable place.

Then he does it again. And again. And again.

The vamp, too consumed by thirst to realize what was going on, howls in pain, rearing back and letting go for a split second. But it was enough, as Louis feels oxygen rush back into his lungs and clear his head. The bottle slides from his grip, and shatters to a million pieces on the ground.

He shoots up, clawing at the moss-covered walls on either side of him for balance, tripping and stumbling away from the injured rogue as quickly as he could. He doesn’t turn around to see whether the vampire had recovered yet, if it was chasing after him. It felt like he was running in slow motion, every movement pathetically sluggish and uncoordinated. He kept his eyes firmly on the building that was fast approaching, ignoring the searing pain at his throat and the warm trickle of blood that was now running down his neck.

“Ella!” he screams, thumping as hard as he can on his neighbors’ back door. He can’t afford to round all the way to the front gate now, “Ella! Open the door!”

Louis turns around. He can’t see anything further than a few feet, but the rogue must have had enough time to recover by now and could be lumbering towards him at any moment, hands outstretched and ready to squeeze the life out of his weak body.

He doubles his efforts, rapping at the door with all his might until he feels his knuckles start to bruise. It should be enough to wake the entire block at this point.

The door flings open in his face.

“What the bloody hell is going on h-- Louis!” Ella’s eyes seem to almost bulge out of their sockets as they zero his purpling neck. “Louis – what…? Oh god. Get inside!”

Louis slumps forward in relief, letting himself be dragged out of the rain and into warmth and safety before collapsing on the floor and throwing up his dinner all over Ella’s porch.

 

Harry:

It’s half an hour later, and the dom is still awake.

This had never happened before – not for this long anyways, and even then there would always be a good reason for it. This just felt like his body refusing to cooperate. The uneasy feeling was still there, burning in the pit of his stomach and making it impossible to sit still.

He’s brushing his teeth for the third time tonight, just because he didn’t know what else to do at this hour. He can’t help but think that if he had a soft and pliant little body he could cuddle up to (one pliant human boy in particular), it would soothe this illogical anxiousness. But Louis couldn’t be here, because all Harry is to him is his boss, a rich cold vampire who kept him as an assistant out of pity.

Harry wrung his hands out and growls in frustration, almost snapping the toothbrush in two. He feels so _angry_ all of a sudden, at nothing and everything.

It isn’t _fair_.

He’s spent most of his life living for other people; being the good son his parents intended him to be, the good leader his clan members wanted to be, the level-headed CEO his company needed him to be. And the _one_ time where he had the chance to pursue happiness for _himself_ , he manages to let it slip from his grasp…

Harry shakes his head and takes rapid, shallow breaths in an attempt to banish the thoughts. They were toxic, and he needs to stop getting so agitated so easily over nothing. It’s the stress. It’s getting to him. Loosening his grip on the toothbrush, he turns back to the mirror on top of the sink…

That’s when he sees it, a purple bruise the size of a fist spanning his entire neck down to just above his collarbone. Harry blinks in bewilderment, hesitantly rubbing his eyes to make sure it wasn’t the exhaustion that was causing his mind to play tricks on him.

It’s…That’s impossible.

Harry only recalls obtaining bruises once in his lifetime, and that had been when he was about seven and had literally been hit by a speeding truck while trying to cross a road alone. And even then injuries were small and relatively harmless, disappearing after only a few minutes.

This one was black and blue, and looked as if it needed to be checked by a doctor.

Harry stands there, dumbstruck and staring disbelievingly at the patch of purpling skin that didn’t seem to be fading (which is also technically impossible because vamps heal at an insane speed), wondering how on earth a bruise he’s sure he didn’t get could be appearing on his body, when it hadn’t been there moments ago. He leans in closer, prodding and nudging at the broken skin. And very very faintly, he could just make out two small punctures, right in in the dip of his ear and throat, small and red like two pinpricks.

Bite marks.

Okay, this is definitely not-- vamps can’t drink from other vamps; their blood taste like acid to each other, that's why they consume blood from only animals or huma—

Oh no.

No, no, no.

_Louis._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _twitter:@oanhvuvn2001 ___


	9. Lights flash and we run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this was worth the wait!! And yes, i will be continuing with this story (hopefully with much, much faster updates). Thank you to everybody who's stuck around for the last five months, it means so much to me :DD

Louis goes to work the next day in an old turtleneck with the collar drawn up the highest it would go,the tip of the fabric touching his chin. He knows he looks somewhat sloppy, especially for a day like today, but it was the only plausible way he could think of to hide the ugly state of his neck without appearing too suspicious.

It had been a long night, and even Louis can’t believe that he didn’t call in sick or something. He feels bone-tired and dead on his feet, even after a cold shower and two cups of black coffee from that pricey shop next to the Styles building that he always used to avoid because they charge a shit ton for organic coffee grains, but now that he’s got a little bit of money he figures he could splurge on a few drinks.

He’d stayed at Ella’s for the entire night, knowing that he had a better chance of surviving with her if the deranged Alpha somehow managed to trail his scent all the way to their door. She’d tried to offer him her bed, encouraging him to get a little sleep while she kept watch, but he’d ended up curled in the corner of the living room with one of her old blankets. The position was uncomfortable and his back was going to fucking murder him in the morning, but it felt safe, being squished so small that he could almost convince himself he’s invisible.

Even though he knew if the rogue dared to come anywhere near Ella’s house she would blow his brains out with her handgun (all unmated or widowed fertiles are permitted to have one, sadly the same didn’t apply for humans) he couldn’t shake off the sickly uneasiness that had settled in his stomach, can’t forget the feeling of a fist on his throat.

 The rogue never came, of course, but they spent the early hours of the morning in restless silence anyway, and that had resulted in a night of almost no sleep for the both of them.

The cuts on his hand were deep, and he had to put on several bandages to prevent them from opening up again and getting infected, but it was something he could easily pass off as clumsiness if he’s questioned. The only thing he couldn’t cover up was a small bruise on the side of his face, right under his cheek, but then again, inventing a tale about accidentally getting hit in the face by a door should be relatively simple. The perks of being a clumsy human; nobody questioned your excuses, even if they sounded dumb as hell.

But the universe hates him, because of course when it comes to someone actually asking him about it, he blubbers like an idiot.

In this instance, it was Danielle, breezing into the office looking chipper and fully awake even though it’s only eight o’clock in the morning on a fucking Monday. Louis was still down on the fifteenth floor collecting some files from Caroline for another meeting, the quiet humming of the photocopying machine, the muted tapping of hungover employees on their respective keyboards and the constant echo of Caroline’s angry voice on the phone the only thing preventing him from pitching face first into his coffee and falling asleep right there.

In his sleep-deprived state, Danielle’s sharp, horrified gasp had Louis jumping two feet in the air and letting out a surprised squeak of his own.

“Darling!” she shrieks, scurrying over in her dangerously high heels to inspect his bandaged limbs. Louis came _this_ close to actually smothering her with his hands so she would quiet-en down. “What the _bloody hell_ happened to your face? And your hands?”

“Shhhh…”

“Right, sorry.” She looks around, grinning sheepishly when she catches the dirty looks Caroline and a few other half-conscious co-workers were giving her.

 “But seriously, though. When did this happen? In fact, _what_ happened exactl-“ she gasp, fingers reaching forward to touch the side of his cheek. The human boy jumps instinctively at the touch, grunting a little in pain at how hard she was pushing.  “Holy shit, is that- are those…fingerprints?”

“N-no.” he says shakily, trying to regain composure at least long enough to make his lie believable. “Well, yes…Uhm so like, I was on my ugh b-bike yesterday and it rained and I fell, I mean I t-tripped on a rock and my bike went…” Louis shakes his head, slapping himself mentally for sounding like such an idiot; he’d _practiced_ , for God’s sake, and somehow he still manages to fuck it up. Luckily, Danielle didn’t seem to find his inability to form a proper sentence suspicious. In fact she was listening with rapt attention, nodding along expressively.

 “And, umm, I sort of w-went down sideways, and I-uhm landed on my hand! Yes! And it left imprints on my face and the other side was bruised because it scraped on the ground!” he finishes, breathless.

He waits with baited breath for Danielle squint disbelievingly and call out a flaw in his made-up story, like the fact that he _doesn’t own a fucking bicycle_ , but all she says is “Oh poor darling. Be careful next time.” and pats him on the head sympathetically before Caroline realizes that they’ve both been chatting by the printer for almost ten minutes and angrily motions her over. Louis breaths a heavy sigh of relief.

“Anyway, I almost forgot.” Danielle turns around, “Where’s your boss? The next meeting starts in half an hour and I heard he’s already missed the one at six.”

“ I don’t know.” Louis frowns, “I can’t reach him. I had to call Mr. Payne in this morning to cover for him.”

Mr. Styles had been a no-show the entire morning, even though Louis is one hundred percent positive he’d highlighted the date on the dom’s phone and even sent him several messages yesterday evening about the scheduled conference today. When it came to five minutes before the first meeting, Louis had already called the vamp seven times, and shot him more than twenty texts. Normally all of this wouldn’t even be necessary, because Harry is, after all, a vampire Dom, and they don’t do late.

The morning meeting had been beyond awkward, with the absence of Mr. Styles weighing heavily on the room. Nobody dared to raise any complaints, however, partly because this was the Styles clan leader and the CEO of the corporation, but also partly because his second in command was there and it wouldn’t be a smart idea to mouth off Mr. Styles in Liam’s presence. Despite this, the atmosphere had been uncomfortably tense, with many of the elder shareholders feeling disrespected by the Dom’s untimely absence. Louis had lost count of how many people had shot him a dirty look as he came around with cups of coffee and copies of the report, as if all this was somehow _his_ fault.

And normally their withering glares would have sent him swiftly into a panic; the fear of displeasing a room of rich, powerful vampires too terrifying to think of. But today he’d glared right back at them, because he’s so done with this shit.  All he wanted to do was go home and curl into a ball in the corner of the bed with a cup of tea and his mother’s fingers running soothingly through his wispy hair, telling him that everything would be okay in the end. That he’s safe. That he isn’t being forced to survive in a world where he constantly had to run away from savage, blood thirsty monsters who could all kill him in a heartbeat.

Instead he stood there with a plastic smile on his face and posture lowered respectfully, as the elderly fertile on the podium drones on and on about annual profit margins. Exactly how he was trained to be.

 

When it came to five minutes before the second meeting, Louis had long since abandoned all hope that Harry would somehow miraculously appear out of thin air to save the day.

He’d given Mr. Payne the annual report to look through, but it was still up in the air whether or not the Dom can pull it off because of the fact that he only normally manages finances in the Styles firm, and generally keeps out of the corporation’s wider business activities. That had always been up to the clan leader to manage.

Liam, on the other hand, is still very much in denial over the fact that his best friend would ever show up to work even a minute late. Let alone skip _two_ meetings in a row.

“This is not normal, Louis. Something must have happened to him. If I find out its someone from the Chynoweth clan I swear I’ll fucking rip-“

Louis can understand where he’s coming from, because Harry is a vampire, after all, and it really is very rare that they aren’t organized and punctual at all times. But Liam really can’t afford to lose focus at this point by worrying over things that aren’t the statistics on his ipad.

“I’m sure he’s okay, sir. Mr Styles can take care of himself. And I’ve already called his bodyguard – Paul, was it? – and he said Mr Styles is fine. He just wouldn’t tell me where he is.”

“Regardless, who knows if h-“

“Sir, please.” Louis begs, trying very, very hard not to collapse from exhaustion right there and then. The bruises on his body are so sore, and his head feels like it might explode any minute. “If this conference doesn’t go smoothly, we could lose a plethora of important customers, and when Mr. Styles comes back he’ll have my head.”

“I understand, I just-“

“Tomlinson!” a voice calls loudly from behind him, making the small boy jump.

Louis turns around to find a disheveled and brisk-looking Harry Styles striding his way, hair tied up in a messy bun and face creased into a stressed frown. Which is…new. He’d never seen his boss look anything short of composed and in-control, but it was fitting since they literally only have a few moments to prepare before Mr. Styles has to give a speech to a roomful of pissed, impatient businessmen.

Liam launches into a detailed interrogation immediately.

“Where’ve you been? Do you have any idea how many calls and texts we’ve sent you? Louis’ called you more than 20 times, and I’ve been sending you a text every two seconds. Do you have any  idea how irresponsible this is, Harry? What would your mother say? If this gets out do you know how much it will tarnish you reputation-?

“Have you got my papers ready?” Harry turns to Louis, choosing to ignore his Liam’s onslaught of questions completely. “We have two minutes until the conference begins and I’d like to skim through it at least once first.”

Even with his dull human senses, Louis can’t help but notice the dom’s eyes flitting to his neck as he speaks, and lingering for a several seconds too long, as if he could see right through the thick woolen fabric covering the handprint-shaped bruise on the human’s neck.

Weird.

Louis doesn’t have time to think much of it though, because he’s already too busy stuffing the notes into Mr. Styles’ outstretched hands, ushering his boss into the meeting room and letting out a relieved sigh as he sees Harry swiftly flicking through the briefing papers, smoothing out his hair and straightening his suit.

 

Everything goes relatively smoothly after the clan leader’s return. No surprises there.

Harry manages, somehow, to grovel and soothe and apologize his way out of all the questions long enough for their second meeting to go off without a hitch. Louis can’t help but notice that not once throughout the entire meeting has the dom given anyone a straight answer regarding where he’d been. Only offering “I had some urgent business to attend to. I’m incredibly sorry” at best, or otherwise skillfully diverting the topic of the conversation.

That didn’t stop people from speculating, though. When curious vampires fail to weasel a satisfying answer out of the Dom himself, they turn to the assistant.

Louis had lost count of how many times someone had tried to stealthily beckon him over behind Harry’s back to ask about a possible “internal conflict within the clan”, or potential problems concerning the clan leaders’ health, or whether “The Mating with Taylor” was finally happening.

Most of which left Louis either very confused or very uncomfortable, especially since he hadn’t even gotten the chance to ask his boss himself about what had happened.

Although it wasn’t really their business what was happening in Harry’s personal life, it made Louis feel weirdly useless; the fact that he didn’t have an answer to their questions when it was his job to basically keep on top of Harry’s schedule. He made a mental note to question the Dom after the meeting was over.

 

It seemed to drag on forever.

When the clan leader comes to his closing statement, effectively ending the two-hour long conference and everybody finally starts to file out of the room, Louis feels almost boneless. At this point the human boy had given up on the pretense of trying to act somewhat graceful and put-together. He was sweating and slouching over the side of his chair at the back of the room, back aching and all the bruises and cuts littering his body throbbing unbearably. In hindsight, the thick turtleneck top doesn’t seem like much of a good idea anymore.

When Louis had finished packing up and scanning the signed documents from the meeting to then give to Aria to check through and put away, he all but sprints up the stairs to Mr Styles office.

The raised voices from inside tell him that there was someone already in there, though, so he doesn’t knock or try to enter. Thinking back, he should have just left it there, minded his own business and walked downstairs to get Mr Styles a cup of coffee or something. But the voices keep growing louder and angrier, and he makes the stupid decision of pressing his ear to door to listen.

Of course, because of his inferior human senses, the shouting comes out garbled at first, but he could at least distinguish the voices; Harry and Liam. The longer he stands there though, the more phrases he could pick out.

Liams’ seething: “how could you be so reckless?!” and Harry’s lowered but angry voice: “It’s done, isn’t it? I’m fine.”

“You could have gotte……to do it for you. You’re the clan leader, Haz-….. can’t believe you ripped him limb by limb.“

“You want me just to…. Son of a bitch……tried to kill my mate…..bruises - appeared on his…. torn shirt and blood everyw-.”

The loud bang that came from inside had Louis jumping backwards in surprise, letting out a quiet little squeak of fear. It sounded like something had just been shattered to pieces on the marble floor. He doesn’t stay long enough to find out though, because he’s already speed walking back down the corridor just as the door to Harry’s office slams open and Liam storms out, hands balled into fists. He walks past Louis in a rage, giving the human boy only nod of acknowledgement in place of his normal friendly greeting.

Louis nods back mutely, too scared to look directly into the dom’s face. Liam was scary when he’s mad.

 

When he opens the door and walks into Mr Styles’ office, it looks nothing like he’d expected to. The room was impeccable and exactly the way he’d seen it this morning, with no visible trace of broken shards or any indication that a fight had just broken out. Mr. Styles himself was perched on his chair, tapping away on his PC as if nothing had happened at all.

Louis coughs awkwardly to announce his presence, even though the Dom could probably already hear him from outside.

“Good morning, sir. “ Louis smiles brightly, trying his best to keep his tone cheerful in hopes of lightening up the obvious bad mood that the Dom was in right now.

“Have you scanned the signed documents yet, Louis?” Mr. Styles asks monotonously, still completely engrossed in his computer.

“Yes, sir.”

“Have you handed them to Aria to check? All files in chronological order?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Thank you.” Harry glances up at him then, taking in Louis’ haggard expression and the dark circles under his eyes despite his wide smile. The dom’s eyes turned sad “Why don’t you sit down and rest for a bit. You look exhausted.”

“Oh! Uhm… no it’s okay sir. I still have some reports to finish.” Louis says, ignoring the fuzzy and warm feeling blooming stomach from the Dom’s words. Maybe he’s being too human and too emotional, but it felt really nice to know that Mr Styles actually cared about his well-being, instead of seeing him as someone inferior at his disposal, like most other vamps in his position would. It was times like this that Louis felt like one of the luckiest humans on the planet to be an employee here.

“Okay”, Harry says easily, although the small frown on his face indicates that the Dom was still worried and stressed about something. Maybe it was the fight with Liam, or maybe something _was_ happening with the clan and maybe that was the reason he was late this morning. Louis should probably leave him to it and get back to his own work.

“I’ll just be outside if you need me, Mr Styles. Here….” The Dom nods absently, reaching out to grab the paper cup from Louis---

Louis shrinks back, struggling to hold in a gasp as he catches sight of Mr. Styles’ hands.

“Sir, your…uhm. Your.....” he blurts, motioning hesitantly to the doms’ fingers.

Although Harry’s palm seemed relatively clean and spotless, the nail beds were dirty and flecked with dried blood, as if they’d just been clawing at dirty ground.

The vamps stares at him for a moment in confusion, before glancing down.

A sudden expression that Louis can’t indentify – perhaps surprise? – flickered across the vamps’ features for what felt like a fraction of a second. But then the human boy blinked, and it was gone.

When his boss bursts out laughing, Louis was sure he’d imagined it.

“Tomlinson, I’m a vampire. I drink blood for breakfast.” The Dom chuckles, although it doesn’t quite reach his eyes, which remained blank “I thought you humans had gotten used to it by now. Don’t worry though; nobody got hurt. It was a stray animal.”

Louis blushes a bright red at that. He supposes he really does sound naïve and a bit silly, forgetting for a second that Mr. Styles, as calm and kind as he can be, is still a powerful predator by nature.

 “Still, sir,” Louis retorts, speaking loudly to cover up his embarrassment and hide the color flooding his cheeks, “you shouldn’t have gone into the meeting like that. It’s…..unsanitary.”

“When did you get so bossy, Tomlinson?” Mr Styles teases, staring at the human boy amusedly, “Why don’t you do it for me then,” the dom held out his dirty hands, pulling a clean napkin out of his drawer “since so you’re being so picky about this?”

If possible, Louis cheeks turn an even darker shade of red.

He takes the napkin anyways and gently holds the dom’s gigantic hand in his own, starting to methodically pick out the filth and blood under his nails. The dom’s skin felt cool and smooth under his fingertips, as if it were carved from marble. And even now up close, Louis can’t seem to find any imperfections, any scars or discoloring, on the vampires’ skin.

It should be at least a little bit intimidating to be this close to the vampire, with their faces just inches apart, but all he can feel is an overwhelming sense of calmness and belonging. The silence in the room felt soothing instead of awkward and oppressive.

Does it always feel this good to take care of somebody?

 “What happened to your neck?” the Dom asks calmly, quietly, as if he was trying very hard not to frighten off a very scared animal.

It doesn’t work, because Luis almost jumps out of his skin, dropping the dirty napkin on the floor and stumbling backwards. There was a moment of complete silence, where he feels totally frozen on the spot, tongue permanently glued to roof of his mouth. Mr. Styles was still regarding the PA with an unfazed and meticulously neutral expression, seemingly oblivious to the human boy’s inner turmoil.

“I-I, e-erm…” Fuck. Not again.

_Come on. You’ve practiced it. I fell off my bike on my way home yesterday. Grazed against the pavement Left a nasty bruise._

Louis clears his throat shakily, before trying again. “I…. I f-fell. On the way back to my flat yesterday. I fell.”

“On your neck?”

 _Shit_.

He said neck, not face. _Neck_.

How did he see that? Did his shirt collar manage to slip down somehow?

“Uhm, I - yes, sir.” He was starting to fidget, face heating up guiltily for spawning such blatant lies. He’s giving himself away, he knows it. So he turns carefully away from the Dom’s steady gaze, pretending to be sorting out the already-neat stack of papers on the table.

“I-it was raining so the roads were really w-wet and I was wearing these really slippery shoes” Louis babbles, even though was clear at this point neither of them believed a single word he was saying “And I tripped and my neck hit a…a rock, so it’s a little bruised. It’s nothing, sir.” Louis adds in an airy laugh just for good measure, cringing when it came out unconvincingly fake.

He doesn’t hear a response, so he assumes it’s safe to turn around. Only to find Harry had closed the distance between them and his face was now only inches away from his own.  It was perhaps the most intimidating he’d ever seen his boss look, but it startles him more than frightens him.

Then suddenly his collar was pulled down, Mr. Styles’ movement way too quick and swift for Louis to react or jerk away, and he shivers as icy air hits his bruised skin and making goosebumps bloom across the expanse of his bare neck. He thought he could hear the Dom’s breath whistling out of his lungs in a sharp gasp as he takes in the pitiful state of the human boy, but he can’t be sure through the rapid thumping of his heart in his own ears.

“It’s not what it looks like! It was just a really-“

 “You don’t have to keep lying, Louis.” The Dom says gently, tracing at the skin around the bruise as if willing it to heal quicker, “Both of us know exactly what that is.”

Louis can literally feel his heart stutter to a stop in his chest, and he feels like he’s going to throw up as an overwhelming sense of shame washes through him. He doesn’t know why he feels like this - it’s not like he’s never told a lie before in his life - but it was just something about Mr. Styles’ kind, non-judgmental gaze that made him feel like he might burst into tears.

“I-I” he gulps, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”


	10. Let them say what they want

_“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”_

He’s been caught. He should have known his ridiculous little act of nonchalance couldn’t fool a Dom like Harry. He doesn’t know how much Harry knows, but it should have been obvious that the vampire was much more aware about what had happened than Louis had initially thought, from his carefully indifferent expression and the guarded tone he’d been using.

And in spite of himself, Louis feels tendrils of anger and humiliation curl up his spine, making his face heat up and his hands shake. Did the Dom think this was some kind of joke? Was he setting Louis up to make a fool of himself? If he’d known it was a rogue bite beforehand, why would he ask Louis all these open questions just to see him struggle to swivel out of them?

“Okay.” The Dom says soothingly, reaching forward as if to touch the human boy, but at the last minute deciding against it. “Okay. If that isn’t what I think it is, then what is it?” he’s using the same cautious tone as before, as if talking to a cornered animal. “I just want to know what happened to you.” The Dom asks, almost pleadingly. “Please?”

No. That can’t be it. Harry sounded way too sincere, way too worried for this to all be an act.

“Louis?”

 The human boy tries to think quickly of a believable excuse but he knows at this point, it’s useless; he can still hardly speak past the lump of humiliation and anger lodged in his throat.

He knows he’s being irrational -Mr Styles, just like any other kind vampire in this company -- was just trying to look out for him, but he honestly can’t help it. He supposes the anger stems from embarrassment. It stems from the fact that his stupid little façade had been exposed; his little act of being a strong and independent and  _different_  from the human stereotype was now in shambles after he’s shown so clearly that he lacked the strength to defend himself against a basic threat.

The fact that each and every one of the other employees in this entire office, even the “delicate” fertiles – could have outsmarted or outrun the crazed rogue in a second, makes everything so much worse. It was just another testament to his inferiority – the fact that he was inadequate and unworthy of working in this environment.In the end he’ll always be a vulnerable human boy, always reliant on the superior race for protection.

He’d thought – naively, perhaps – that if he could just conceal the wounds and bruises or explain them away somehow, that he could hide the fact that they weren’t the result of momentary clumsiness, but a more deep-rooted vulnerability that came with being human.

It hurts to imagine what Harry must really be thinking right now. Was he disgusted by Louis? Did he pity him?

 “It was a rogue. Last night. It was hungry so… i-it tried to feed off of me.” He says tonelessly, cringing at how pathetic the confession sounded. But honestly, what was the point of lying now?

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Harry frowns, “Why didn’t you tell any of us? You know we could have helped you!”

“Because it’s irrelevant!” Louis deflects, averting his eyes to the floor and thinking how convenient it would be if the ground would just swallow him up whole right this moment.He’s not good at confrontation, and more times than not he’ll end up saying something that he’ll regret later when he feels like he’s being cornered.

“This has nothing to do with you or anyone in this company, sir.” Louis says, unable to stop the hint of bitterness that leaks out into his voice.“I-It’s my problem. I can handle myself.”

He knew it was the wrong thing to say as soon as it leaves his mouth. But he’s too upset, too caught up his, perhaps childish, little ball of rage and shame to care much. The Dom’s eyes darken, a mixture of hurt and exasperation.

“How is the fact that you were almost fucking  _killed_  by a deranged rogue irrelevant? How is your safety  _not_  my problem?!” Harry explodes, the low timbres Dom voice sending little shockwaves up Louis’s spine.

 

“Why should it be?” Louis asks quietly. “What could you have done anyways? Rush over there to protect me? You wouldn’t have done that, Mr Styles, even if you were able to. ”

Louis takes an involuntary step back, wincing at how harsh the echo of the words sounded in his own ears. That came out all wrong. He knows he’s being unfair. Mr Styles was only trying to help.

He risks a tiny glance at the Dom, and Harry looked like someone had just slapped him across the face and doused him in ice water simultaneously. He doesn’t seem angry, though. He just looked… hurt. The swirl of confusing emotions in Louis were suddenly replaced with a prominent, crushing sense of guilt as the implications of his own words sank in.

He swallows.

_Shit. Why can’t he just fucking **shut up** for once?_

Before the human boy could open his mouth to attempt to salvage the situation, a soft buzzing interrupts him. Louis doesn’t normally get calls during working hours, so he never bothers turning his phone off completely, always opting to put it on vibrating instead.

“Excuse me, sir. I-” He clears his throat, patting at his pockets to locate the phone, avoiding eye contact altogether. Truthfully he was more than a little relieved that it has effectively put an end to the conversation, “I –uhm- I think I should take this, if you don’t mind.”

Mr. Styles’ frown deepens, frustration and something akin to worry etching his flawless features, but after a brief pause he waves the intern off.

Louis can feel the Dom’s eyes burning on the back of his neck as he makes his way out to the hallway before Ella’s panicked voice on the other line stops him dead in his tracks.

“Hello?! Hello, Louis! Where are you?!”

“Ella–why? What’s happening? I’m-“

“Never mind, “she cuts him off suddenly.

 _She sounds… scared_ , Louis realizes with a jolt. Ella’s voice laced with a kind of panic and fear that Louis had never heard before in a fertile, or in any vampire, period.

“I suppose that doesn’t matter now…” the fertile continues,“Do you remember what that rogue looked like? The one that attacked you yesterday? Do you remember his face or what he was wearing?!”

“N-no?! It was really dark and I - Ella, why are you asking me all this? Is everything alright?”

“It’s…” she breaks off suddenly, “There’s -… someone found a body ripped to shreds in the garbage patch next to our apartment complex a few hours ago, and they said it looked like it was a dead vamp. A-A dead rogue… and apparently it’s fresh, too, says it hadn’t began to disintegrate in the sun yet. It must have happened sometime between midnight last night and early morning today… ”

Louis tries to stay calm and listen through everything, even though he can feel all the air rattle out of his lungs in a whoosh and blood drain from his face at the words “dead rogue”.

He  _had_  stabbed that rogue with the broken glass last night, but he didn’t think it would be enough to kill it, and at the time it certainly didn’t look like he was losing that much blood anyways.  But it was clear the vampire hadn’t been feeding for a long time and its body was obviously showing signs of severe fatigue and weakening systems if it wasn’t even able to chase after him. Maybe that little injury had been all it took. He can’t help but think it’s a ridiculous notion, the idea that a  _human_ , a measly, weak human like himself could kill a six foot tall, blood-thirsty Dom.

 

He  _has_  to remain rational and think this through in a coherent manner. “Okay…” Louis says slowly, tucking his spare hand into his pockets. He hadn’t realized how badly it was shaking before.  “Okay. Hang on, I’m coming home.”

 

"No!" Ella protests immediately. "It’s too dangerous! You can't come back here. You can't - everyone in this area knows there's a human living a here. A  _lone_  human who's vulnerable to attacks."

“Then what am I supposed to do? My apartment - ”

“Lou, you need to get out of this place.”

“W-what?”

 “Look,” Ella reasons,“That rogue is dead, but there are plenty of predators just like him in this part of town. And now that they know about you there’s no guarantee that they won’t come after you next. It’s too dangerous. It’s about time you find yourself a better place to stay anyway. Someone like you shouldn’t even be in an area like Hounslow in the first place.”

“But I have nowhere to go, Ella! And the cops-“

 “The police can’t do anything to you. Even if they find traces that lead back to you, you won’t become a suspect. You know that, Louis. You guys almost never get charged for the death of a vampire. Everybody knows you’re not physically able of something like that.”

“But I can’t just leave!” Louis starts to really feel the panic setting in. He knows he’s running out of reasons to stay, but the truth is he just can’t imagine suddenly leaving the home that he’d grown up in. It’s all he’s ever known. “I’ve lived there my entire life!”

“I know,” Ella sighs defeatedly, “I’m just saying this from a friend’s perspective, Louis. What would have happened to you if I hadn’t opened that door fast enough? What would have happened if that rogue didn’t miraculously dropped dead just as it was about to chase you? You got lucky this time, Lou, but what about the next time?”

“There won’t be a next tim-“

“You can’t honestly believe that!”

“I don’t know, Ella!” Louis cries, swallowing down a choked sob, “I don’t know what to do! I don’t have anywhere to go on such short notice. Hell - they probably won’t even if I told them a month on advance! You know how they are with my kind.”

“Isn’t there anybody in that company that could help you out?” Ella asks softly. “How about that nice friend of yours. Niall, was it?”

“Nevermind. Don’t worry about it Ella. I’ll figure something out.” Louis says. The truth is there’s no way he can ask Niall or anyone else in the company for their help without having to tell them about what had happened. And he can’t do that, either. Compared to being homeless, that prospect to him seemed a lot worse.

 “I’ll meet you at home in fifteen minutes, to…clear out my stuff I guess.”

“I’ll help you pack.” The fertile says sadly, “I’ll meet you at the café outside the alley.”

“You don’t have to, Ella-“ Louis begins. The widowed fertile had done so much for him already, and it wasn’t like she was in a good place herself.

“Just to be safe” she says kindly.

Before Louis had the chance to protest further, the beeping noise coming from his phone signals that she had hung up.

He trudges back into the office, numb with fear and dread. The bruises on his throat give a dull throb -- a muted sort of pain that acts as a sardonic reminder of the events of last night.

He pauses with his hand on the door. This is all happening too fast. He needs a break. He needs a minute to sit down and think everything through, maybe try to grasp the fact that he’d gone from being a normal human boy walking home from work to having been attacked and almost drain by a starving rogue in an alley, before stabbing and potentially killing said rogue in the span of just 24 hours.

He shuts the door slowly and as quietly as he can. Maybe if he’s quiet enough, Mr. Styles might just ignore him altogether and he can slip out of the office without offering an explanation. Louis’ plan falls apart as soon as he steps inside and realises that the dom hadn’t moved from his chair at all, eyes trained on the door as Louis steps in.

 “Are you okay?” Mr. Styles asks quietly. All the fire seemed to have drained from his voice, and now he just sounds worried and sad.

_No, I’m not okay. I’m going to be homeless in a few hours._

“You have one meeting at four o’clock in the conference room, sir, and you still haven’t read and signed the reports Mr. Payne sent you this morning. Also, I-I need to take the evening off.” He whispers instead. “Could I please…”

“Alright, “Harry says, and it’s almost infuriating how fucking _calm_  and _in control_ the Dom seemed, why is Louis always the one that seems to never have anything under control? “May I ask why?”

He’s too tired at this point to think of a lie to save face.  There’s no use anyways – the Dom had probably already guessed it. “The vampire that attacked me yesterday – he, he’s dead. And now the police are involved. Everyone there now knows there’s a human living in the apartment.” Louis takes a shuddery breath. Saying it out loud suddenly makes the situation feel a lot more real. “I can’t stay there anymore.”

“ Shit. That’s…” The Dom stood up and strides across the room as if the being physically closer Louis might somehow be a source of comfort for him. “I’m so sorry.”

 “It’s fine, sir. I’m fine.”

“And where are you going to go?” Harry questions, not looking like he believed Louis for a minute, but deciding that it wasn’t a good idea to aggravate him further.

“I- uhm, was thinking a hotel for a few days?” Louis replies hesitantly, “U-until I find a safer place, of course…”

“A _hotel_?” the Dom blinks disbelievingly, “A hotel is even _less_ safe than staying in that apartment! Anyone, any vampire could weasel information out any hotel employee and pinpoint exactly where you are in a second! Not to mention the amount of people that would see you walking in and out of that place. ”

“Why would anyone want to know where I am that badly?” Louis asks, shaking his head, “Surely they wouldn’t spend that much effort on trying to get some blood…There are easier ways…”

“You really don’t understand, do you?”

“What do you mean, sir?” Louis blinks, taken aback.

“It’s not just about you being human anymore, Louis. They might not even be attacking you because of that at this point. You’re working for me now. Wouldn’t it be convenient for a vamp from a rival clan to have my ma-… my _assistant_ in their grasp?”

“So they could do what?” Louis questions, crossing his arms over his chest “I don’t know any information that other people don’t know already.”

The Dom sighs exasperatedly, ringed fingers clicking together as he scratched his forehead in annoyance. “They don't care about fucking _information_! Have you heard of something called _blackmail_ , Lou? Do you think if another clan has you they'd hand you over if I asked nicely?”

“Well, they should know that you wouldn’t trade over anything for _me_.” Louis retorts indignantly.

“That’s besides the point.” The Dom says, opening his mouth as if to say something more but then thinking against it.

“But…I still don’t understand. If you knew I was an easy target, that I would become a liability, why did you give me such an important job in the first place? Wouldn’t a Dom be more suitable…?”

“You are _not_ a liability.” The Dom says loudly, forcefully, making Louis jump. “Do not _ever_ call yourself that again. Do you understand?” Louis nodded mutely, feeling a shiver go through his spine at the pure dominance in Mr. Styles’ voice. “And I chose you” the Dom continues, looking the human boy straight in the eye “because you can do the same job that any other Dom or fertile, but you’re also friendly and modest and you never complain about working long hours or fear being given a difficult task. You improve and become more efficient each day because you’re willing to push yourself, even when you’re at a clear disadvantage. Thos kinds of people are indispensible to me, Louis, do you understand?”

And Louis nods again, speechless at Mr. Styles’ admission. No one has ever though so highly of him in his life. It makes a warm, fuzzy feeling bloom in his chest and heat his entire body, tinting his cheeks pink.

“ Now back to the point. You can’t stay in a hotel.” The dom’s phone beeps, surprising the both of them. Before Louis can tell the Dom to pick it up, however, the vamp pulls the offending object out of his pocket and throws it onto the table behind them, efficiently silencing it.

“Okay,” Louis says, flinching at the loud noise, “I’ll go ask Niall, sir. I’ll ask him if I can stay for a few days, though I doubt-“

“Or you can…” Harry interrupts quietly…hesitantly, as if he was formulating some sort of plan in his head right then and there “you can stay with me.”

“W-what?” Louis lets out a startled laugh, unsure if he’d heard correctly. Out of all the options he had mentally listed, moving in with the clan leader had never even entered his mind. Coming out of Harry’s mouth, it sounded even more absurd.

“You’re my personal assistant,” Harry says, slowly, “it wouldn’t be unreasonable for me to give you a room at the clan manor. In fact, Liam has a room there too.”

“Sir,” Louis gulps. The Dom can’t _really_ think this is a good idea? “Mr Payne is the second in command.”

“And you’re my personal assistant!” Harry retorts, sliding the folders Louis had left on his desk into neat little piles with practiced grace, his perfectly polished shoes clicking on the marble floor as he paces around the office.

“He’s a part of your clan and your family. I’m a complete stranger you hired a few weeks ago! A-and Mr. Payne doesn’t even _live_ in the clan manor. Doesn’t he have a penthouse near here?”

“You’re just as important as Liam is to me.” The vamp continues as if Louis hadn’t spoken, completely unfazed. “You schedule all my meetings. You do almost all of my paperwork. You deal with most of the high-profile clients. And you’re not even working for the _company_ ; you work for _me_.What doesn’t make sense about wanting to have you close by?”

“I’m human.”

“That isn’t a reason.”

The human boy shuffles awkwardly back and forth, unsure of exactly how to explain. Humans and vamps almost never live in the same roof as equals because of the drastic difference in social status, so when it happens they are almost always plagued by allegations of the vampire keeping the human as a blood donor or a slave. In fact, Louis shouldn’t even have to be explaining this – he’s sure the clan leader is experienced enough to know these kinds of things.

Harry is just, for some confusing reason, deliberately choosing to ignore it.

“People will…talk.” He mumbles eventually, “Your reputation…”

“Then let them talk! Your safety is much more important to me than those baseless rumors. People will always have something to say.”

“Sir-“

“I’m sure I can handle a few _mean words_ , Louis. I’ve been out in the public eye for years and years. Everyone has something to say about me and my clan. The Daily Mail writes a hit-piece on us every other day.”

“But this isn’t worth it.” Louis argues, baffled at Mr Styles’s sudden determination.

“ You have no idea do you, Louis?” the Dom asks in a pained tone. ” I can’t just keep sleeping in a house with twenty plus bodyguards each night knowing that you're out there all on your own trying to fend for yourself, vulnerable and an easy target. I won’t do it anymore. I-It makes me feel like such a failure.”

“ _Why_? “ Louis blinks, unsure of how to react to Mr Styles’ unexpected confession. He never knew that Harry cared so much about his employees. 

“Because I-“ Harry sighs, cutting off suddenly. He shakes his head, smoothing back stray curls that had gone loose on his forehead with a tired hand. “You have to understand… you’re more than an employee here, Louis. To us, to _me,_ you’re family. And I can’t let you put yourself in danger again and again.”

Louis isn’t sure how to respond. He doesn’t have a reason to say no to Harry’s kindness, but it doesn’t feel right to say yes, either. The truth is, it was not just his fear of the rumors that are undoubtedly going to stem from this arrangement that was stopping him, it was also the knowledge that he was going to feel so out of place in the Styles manor. Not to mention that he was bound to do something embarrassing like fall down the stairs or run into a wall while he was there. He was ridiculously clumsy most of the time, and especially so around Harry and other powerful, important people. What would the other clan members think of him? What would they think of _Harry_ for inviting a clown like Louis to live in their home?

“You don’t even have to stay forever.” The Dom reasons desperately, jolting Louis out of his thoughts “Just until you find somewhere else safer.”

Louis frowns, opening his mouth once again to give a reason why he can’t accept the Dom’s ridiculously generous offer, but finding that he had no other reason to do so.

So instead, he gave a small nod. “O-okay. I guess a few days won’t hurt. Thank you, sir.”

 _‘Just for a few days’._ Louis thought _‘What was the worse thing that could happen, anyway?’_

“I’ll go back with you to get your things.” Harry says definitively, turning away from the younger boy to shut his laptop, expression melting into one of relief when he realizes that finally, _finally_ , he can now keep his mate _safe_. It puts his Dom at rest and it feels like a weight had just been lifted off of his chest; he can finally start protecting Louis properly, like he should have done right from the minute they soulbonded. He’s never going let Louis out of his sight again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhm i just want to finish by saying that im really, really sorry I took so long to post this chapter. I don't know when the next update is... or even if there is going to be one. I started this fic with high hopes but things just keep getting in the way and writing this just had to take the backseat most of the time. Again, I'm sorry. Hopefully I'll post again when i have time.  
> Love,xx


	11. Loose lips sink ships

 

The entire ride back to the clan manor was filled with awkward silence and nervous fidgeting. The driver seemed deeply concentrated the whole time, never making an attempt at any sort of conversation as he swerves past the hectic London traffic at a mad pace per Harry’s request. The Dom himself was in the front seat engrossed in his phone, methodically and silently replying to each of the hundreds of emails he had gotten that day. Normally that would be Louis' job -- to sort through al his emails and only handing his boss only the most important ones -- but today Harry had insisted that he do it for himself. That leaves Louis in the backseat, squirming uncomfortably and dreading what he’ll be confronted with when he arrives.

They had just gone back to his apartment to get his stuff, and Louis was currently hugging some of the bags he and Ella had hastily stuffed together to his chest in the backseat, wincing as the tough leather straps scratched up against his bruised throat over the fabric of his turtleneck. Mr. Styles had told him to just grab anything he thought he would need immediately, and he would ask Paul or someone else to make more visits back to Louis’ apartment at a later time to get the rest of his stuff.

Ella had already let herself in using the spare key before Louis arrived, and had rushed in to help him pack the bags before Louis even had the chance to protest, whizzing around the flat at a dizzying speed and picking up neatly the small amount of clothes and other belongings that Louis had. Louis hadn’t seen her that animated since her husband’s untimely death years ago. He remembers her always been like this before, though, from the moment Louis had known her; quick, friendly and too compassionate for her own good.

And then suddenly everything was packed and ready, and it was finally time to say goodbye. Louis had thanked Ella then, profusely, for everything. He recalls crying a little, telling her that he owed her his life, that he would visit as often as he could, that he would never forget what she'd done for him and his mother. She had hugged him back silently, patting him on his back and wishing him good luck, reminding him to clean out the bandages on his hand and neck carefully everyday to avoid infections. After one last glance around at the place that he had called home for the last 18 years, he had left, not daring to look back in fear that he wouldn’t be able to walk away.

 

 

The clan manor was, in some ways, everything that Louis had expected it to be. The main building was spectacular, to say the least, complete with immaculate marbled stone walls, beautiful high-arched windows and a massive fountain at the front. It was also very, very large, to the point where it more resembled a castle than an actual house. From the front gate, however, it was difficult to see much of the estate at all, as thick, luscious trees framed either side of the winding driveway and surrounded most of the manor, presumably to give the clan the seclusion that they needed from prying eyes, insistent reporters and paparazzi that hounded them constantly.

At the moment, the scale of the place only served to make Louis more intimidated than ever. The fact that this was his boss’s house aside, Louis had been part of the company for little more than 2 months, and he was already stepping foot onto private clan territory. The last time he checked, vamps were highly protective creatures who don’t take kindly to strangers invading their personal space, regardless of whether he was working for Harry or not. He wasn't part of the family. 

Maybe Louis shouldn’t have accepted the offer after all. He’s not completely obtuse, he knows perfectly well who these people are. Staying outside in a hotel for a few nights was surely better than risking getting on the nerves of an entire clan of the most influential vampires on earth. And although none of them really live at the clan manor in London anymore, every one of them are bound to be very much aware of everything that was happening here.

As if sensing his discomfort, Harry glances up from his phone, giving the human boy a small encouraging smile, his eyes searching Louis’ as if trying to decipher all of thoughts one by one, even as his fingers continued to tap away at the keys on the screen. Louis barely musters a smile back.

The car comes to a stop outside the main building, where a tall boy (who couldn't be much older than Louis) dressed in some sort of black uniform with the Styles clan emblem sewn onto the front, scuttles down the stairs and opens the door for the clan leader. Louis’s mouth drops open in surprise, almost letting go of the backpack he was clutching to his chest. The boy was human. It was barely noticeable at first, but there was a small trail of sweat running down the side of his face, onto his neck and disappearing under his back button-up, no doubt from standing too long outside in the sun to wait for their arrival.

Louis’ heart sank to the pit of his stomach.

Perhaps it was judgmental and presumptuous, but if Louis had thought it was rare for a human to be working in a vamp-dominant firm, it was even harder to imagine a clan of vampires trusting humans -- and perhaps trusting themselves -- enough to allow one to work _within_ their living quarters. Aside from the obvious physical drawbacks from employing humans compared to, for example, an young fertile from a poorer clan, there had been too many stories plastered across the media about the newest incident of humans looting from their hosts or vamps snapping and draining their human habitants. 

Unless...Is this...Was that boy…?

Louis had always been under the impression that Mr Styles and his family were the type of vampires who didn’t endorse keeping humans for blood. To be honest, there were few vampire clans who wanted to outright admit that they kept humans as a food source, but on the other hand there were also few prominent clans who wanted to advocate against it, either. The Styles were one of the clans that did publicly, on top of being relatively outspoken a variety of other social issues. It had been what drew Louis to them so much in the first place.

Thinking about it now, he realizes that that illusion also stemmed from a more personal level as well – Harry had always treated Louis as he had any other employee; with nothing more than respect and kindness. He certainly didn’t have the aura of the type of Dom that Louis’ mother had told him about so often; cruel and demeaning to inferiors. 

The boy opened both the passenger door and the back door, giving a small and respectful nod towards the vampire Dom accompanied by a “Welcome home, sir.” He takes Louis’ backpack from him, directing a kind smile his way as well when he notices Louis staring. Louis smiles back quietly, embarrassed to have been caught staring, but he can't seem to look away.

The boy went to help the driver take the rest of Louis’ bags from the backseat next, chatting amiably with the him while doing so. The thing was, the boy looks so… healthy and content. Or at the very least he looked like wanted to be here. It didn’t fit with the image of a sickly, depressed human that Louis knew “blood donors” normally turned into.

He's momentarily so engrossed in his thoughts that he misses Harry approaching slowly behind him. He jumps when the Dom taps him lightly on the shoulder. 

“I’ll show you to your room now.” he says.

He nods gratefully. The sun had already begun to set.

Harry walks past the double doors and into the main building, guiding Louis gently by the hand -- carefully avoiding the messily wrapped bandages still around his palm -- down the end of the hall to where a grand staircase leads up to the first floor. Louis tries to ignore the butterflies that erupt in his stomach from the simple touch, but the way his heart rate picks slightly and his face heats up must be embarrassingly noticeable to Harry. He reminds himself that Harry was just probably trying to be welcoming. They technically weren't working anymore -- they could afford to be more friendly, right? 

They're halfway up the stairs when Harry tells him about the “small get-together” happening tomorrow night.

“I’m hosting a little family dinner tomorrow,” the Dom states casually, as if he were merely discussing something as trivial as the weather “ and most of the… extended family will be flying back to attend. I’d love it if you would join us, if you’re up for it.” they make a swift turn to the right to a spacious corridor and coming to a stop at the room at the end “Apparently everyone wants to meet the newest addition to the team” He grins, prompting little crinkles to appear at the corner of his eyes that suddenly make him look ten times younger, and more beautiful than Louis had ever seen him. He could just stare at him forever.

_You want to do more than just stare at him._

**_No_ ** _._

The relationship between him and Harry had always been platonic from the very beginning. That’s how its meant to stay. Harry was like a mentor to him, someone who’d taken the human boy under his wing given him unbelievable opportunities, helped him through this darkest and most difficult period of his life. He owes him too much. There was absolutely no space for anything else between them but gratitude and respect on Louis’s part.

Shaking his head, Louis mentally slapped himself for even allowing those thoughts to exist. He needs to snap out of it. He’s not sure when he’s developed an… inappropriate attraction toward his boss -- Louis suspected these thoughts had always been there in a dark corner of his mind from the minute he saw Harry in that elevator the first time, but he’d only recently been brave enough to admit it. Whatever the case, one thing was for sure; it was a very _very_ stupid idea on his part. It’s just going to get him into trouble.

“Lou…” Harry prompts when he notices the silence has stretched a few beats too long.

“Oh.” Louis blinks, “I…uh… I don’t…” The thing is, Louis has been working with Harry long enough to know that a “small get-together” with the “extended family” was never just that – it was basically a euphemism for an extravagant dinner party where probably every single member of the Styles clan as well as their spouses were going to show up. Louis attending something as important as that was no doubt a recipe for disaster.

“It will be fun. Liam and my mother love you already.” Harry maintained reassuringly, noting the worried look in his assistant’s eyes. “You can stick with me the entire time.”

“But… sir….”

“You don’t have to decide now.” The Dom says, smiling quietly at Louis’s cross-eyed, alarmed expression. “Let’s get you settled in first and you can make your mind up tomorrow.”

He takes Louis’s hand gently, placing a small keycard into his palm “You can choose to lock your room when you leave, but the maid has a spare key so she can go in and clean when you’re not there. Dinner’s at seven, but you can eat any time you want. Just tell the chef what you want to eat and he’ll prepare it for you. You can ask Oliver to bring it to your room if you don’t feel like eating in the dining room.”

There’s no way that Louis was ever going to take the liberty of doing any of these things in Harry’s house. He knew full well that the Dom was just being nice (too nice, if you asked him); Louis still needed to find a place quickly and move out as soon as possible. He can’t keep burdening Harry.

“Oliver?”

“The boy you met earlier. There’s a phone in your room that you can use to call downstairs.”

“Oh. Uhm… I’m sure that won’t be necessary. But thank you.” 

“Mum met him on the streets a few years back…” Harry says, keeping his tone light but his face was serious, “She gave him a job here because he didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

“W-what?” Louis blinks, confusion coloring his tone. What was Harry talking about?

“He works for us but he doesn’t stay here at night; he lives with a friend close by." He continues, as if Louis hadn't spoken. "He’s our employee, Louis. Just like you are. Nothing else.”

It takes Louis a few more seconds to understand what exactly the Dom was explaining. So he hadn’t been that subtle after all; Harry had noticed his lingering gaze on the boy. Oliver.

“Oh.” Louis whispers dumbly. Guilt wells up inside him. He… didn’t know. He didn’t know anything and yet he had been so quick to reach conclusions and judge, thinking the worst of Harry right away. It makes his face heat up even more, knowing that this was the reason why the Dom responded the way he did when Louis asked him about humans and vamps living together earlier.

“I-I’m sorry…” He doesn’t have to elaborate. They both knew exactly the kind of things that Louis had been thinking.

“It’s alright.” The Dom says easily. “I just need you to know that we… I don't do things like that. Not to anyone.”

Louis nods. He thinks deep down, that had always been what he wanted to hear. He wanted to be able to trust Harry, and to believe that Harry was doing all of this out of the good of his heart. But he could never seem to lay down the instinctual defense mechanism that he had built up over the years; to be suspicious and careful of any and all vampires. To assume by default that they were going to, one way or another, hurt him. The only way to truly be safe was to keep them at a distance. He knows its wrong, but it was his only way of defending himself.

Now more than ever, he feels like he can let himself believe that maybe with Harry, that isn’t the case.

 

 

Louis watches apprehensively from his window as car after car pulls into sight on the driveway, debating whether or not just to ditch this dinner thing altogether and hide out in his room until it was over. Would that be considered too rude? It certainly wouldn’t sit very well with Harry, who had insisted that Louis’ presence was absolutely necessary. Louis can’t help but feel a little cornered – fearful to leave the safety of this bedroom and join a clan of vampires at dinner, but also unwilling to disappoint Harry.

He paces around his room, a spacious guestroom overlooking the gardens. It was hard to imagine that this was just one of their guestroom – it’s so big, just like everything else in this place. It was beautiful too; homely yet elegant – Louis had always dreamed, as a young boy, of owning a place like this later in his life so that he and his mother could grow old together.

He sighs, smoothing down his shirt nervously and making his way out of his room and down the spiraling double staircase to the front hall. The entire house had been lit up with candles for the event, so that everything was now bathed in a soft, golden glow.

All the guests were being ushered into the hall so that the dining room could be set up, being kept occupied by waiters handing out tall glasses of champagne and other variations of wine that Louis probably can’t even properly pronounce. He rarely ever touches alcohol.

He’s made it less than a few steps before something blonde and loud and distinctly Irish barrels into his back, almost toppling him over.

“Lou! What are you doing here?!”

“Niall? I…What are _you_ doing here? I didn’t know people from the company…” He looked around nervously. He would have one hell of a time trying to explain himself out of this one.

“Oh, no, don’t worry. Harry invited me.” The blonde fertile answers easily, beckoning silently to a waiter for a drink. “It is technically a Styles clan event, but Greg is marrying Gemma soon so I guess I count as a distant relative.” Niall shrugs, taking a large gulp of the orange drink.

Louis nods, surprised, but glad that he had a familiar face to talk to. Louis realizes they’re getting more than a few stares at this point, mostly aimed at him. People seemed to have noticed that ther was a stranger among them. To be absolutely honest, he was genuinely a little intimidated. Everyone looked so posh in their designer suits and gowns. They looked powerful physically, too, all with lean, muscular bodies, milky skin and bright eyes. And they were focusing on _Louis_.

Oh god, this was going to be disastrous.

“Don’t worry, Louis.” Niall whispers, misreading his friend’s “deer-in-headlights” expression, “Harry told me everything. You know I won’t tell anyone.”

Louis’ head snaps around so fast that he’s convinced he’d put a crick in it.

“What do you mean…”told you everything”?” Louis asks, looking up at the fertile nervously. Surely Harry wouldn’t go around telling everyone about what had happened to him; not when he had found it so hard to talk about it to the Dom in the first place.

“Yeah,” Niall answers “Something about a rogue looting your apartment.” He pats Louis on the back sympathetically; expression genuinely concerned as his eyes roam over Louis’ still healing cheek “ I’m sorry, man. That’s rough.”

“Y-yeah…” Louis echoes, breathing a relieved sigh. He feels bad that he’s lying to Niall, he does, but it wasn’t something that he’s ready to explain right at this moment.

“So…Who’s Greg?” He asks, changing the subject.

“Oh, that’s my brother.” Niall answers, scanning the room for something.

“And Gemma?”

“Harry’s sister.” Niall answers distractedly.

 _Of course_ , Louis thought. Niall’s family, if not as influential, was just as wealthy as the Styles. It made sense for the two clans to want to make some sort of connection that would strengthen them both. This world was becoming a little bit clearer to Louis with each passing day; everything was tangled in a complicated web of influence, wealth and power.

“Found them!” The fertile exclaims suddenly, before waving in excitement at somebody from across the hall.

Louis turns to the direction of the blonde’s motions, and sees Harry and Mr Payne making their way towards them, followed closely by a tall, unfamiliar brunette fertile with green eyes and curly long hair. It was pretty clear that this was someone closely related to Harry considering how much they resembled each other side by side. She was stunning too, in her knee length silver dress and emerald jewelry that matched her eyes perfectly. Not for the first time tonight, Louis resists the urge to pull the hem of his turtleneck further up his neck, just to make sure that his bandaged throat was securely out of sight, and cover his bruised cheek with a hand.

Next to all these people he must look like an absolute wreck.

He smiles and nods quietly, politely as they approach, wondering if he should say something to introduce himself to the fertile, but deciding against it. What if she isn’t even interested in talking to him or knowing him?

He’s proven wrong as soon as the vampires were close enough for Louis to see their faces, though. He realizes that she had already zeroed in on him, eyes flitting curiously over his face and scanning tentatively the purple bruise still exposed on his skin. For a brief second, Louis thought she seemed to be wearing a…sympathetic expression, but when she caught him looking it quickly melts into a warm, friendly smile.

Mr Styles reaches them first, and moves to stand next to Louis, Gemma stopping in front of them a few seconds later and Mr. Payne steps forward from behind her, “ I don’t think you two have met? Gems, this is Louis, my uhm...my...assistant.” Harry announces, fingers touching Louis’ arm lightly. “Louis, this is Gemma, my sister.”

“Nice to meet you!” Gemma extends a hand, which Louis takes gratefully. She has the same relaxed, welcoming aura as Anne, Louis realizes, but the younger fertile seemed much more…unguarded, perhaps. Mischevious. “I’ve heard loads about you, Louis.”

“Oh-uhm…” Louis stutters, unsure of what to make of that information.

“This doofus isn’t overworking you, is he?” Gemma continues, gesturing in mock disdain towards Harry’s general direction, not turning around, “You can always tell me. Lou. I’ll make sure mum has a word with him.” She winks as Louis lets out a startled laugh. He hasn’t heard anyone speak of the clan leader in that way, ever. Not even Liam. And although he’d never admit it to anybody but himself, it’s actually quite refreshing.

Harry’s expression, however, was a mixture of fondness and mild annoyance, “Gems…I don’t….”

“Louis doesn’t normally leave the office till after eight.” Niall chimes in helpfully from next to Louis, earning a glare from both Louis and Harry. The fertile blinks back innocently.

“It’s fine, really…” Louis begins, but Gemma cuts him off, looking wholly unimpressed.

“Harry,” she says reproachfully, “You know you can’t overwork your employees like that. What did mum and I tell you?!”

“I don’t…”

“No wonder everyone is afraid of you.” She cuts him off “You know” she turns to Louis, completely ignoring Harry staring daggers into her back “before you he’s had a total of probably more than a dozen assistants. He’s scared them all away.”

“That’s not true-“

“Yes, it is, Harold.” Gemma huffs, raising her eyebrows challengingly as if daring the Dom to disagree.

“Well, its not like you’re any better!” Harry exclaims indignantly. If Louis hadn’t known better, he would have said that the Dom’s cheeks and ears were tinged a little redder than usual.

“Excuse you!” Gemma retorts, scandalized, “My employees _never_ work past six! You can ask anyone over there. They _love_ me!”

“I’m sure they do. “ Harry nodded sarcastically, “But maybe that’s because I actually give my workers _work_ , whereas over there the most you make them do is brainstorm and draw a few pretty pictures.”

“That’s because our company specializes in _design and marketing_ , you idiot! Of course we have to draw _pictures_.”

Liam, who had been laughing quietly to himself for the entirety of the exchange, looked ready to chime in to diffuse the situation before it turned into a full-fledged quarrel, but shut his mouth again when he realized that it was already too late.

“What do you know, _Harold_? I’d be willing to bet that all your employees would take me over a moody Dom like you any day. Has your assistant seen you smile since he’s been here?” Gemma huffs “How you’ve managed to find a mate is beyond me, honestly…”

Everyone suddenly went very quiet then.

Louis blinks slowly, not really understanding the reaction at first, his brain sluggishly trying to work out the implications of Gemma’s words. Did she just say Harry had “found a mate”? Why had he never heard of this before? He’s sure if it was public knowledge, considering the clan leader’s gigantic level of fame, it would have been plastered all across the front page of magazines and newspapers by now, would be breaking international news, would be the topic of weeks and weeks of media coverage. Not to mention the chaos that would ensue internally, as the Styles cooperation readies itself for a possible merger. Louis would be one of the first to know because of how closely he worked with Harry.

Everyone else in their little group here seemed to understand what Gemma meant, though, based on their instantaneous reactions. Liam launches into a violent coughing fit, Niall’s expression was a cross between shock and sheer panic and Harry looked ready to strangle his sister.

So clearly this information was meant to be private. Louis should probably just let it slide since he obviously wasn’t meant to hear anyways, but in his state of shock his mouth speaks before his brain has a chance to catch up: “Mr. Styles…you’ve…are you…mated?”

“No! Ehem…uh… what I meant to say was,” Gemma amends hastily, turning to her brother, her face bright red, “how are you _ever_ going to find a mate –“

The Dom cuts Gemma off “I am.” He answers, ignoring the way Niall’s eyes almost bulge out of his head in disbelief, Liam’s contorted expression and Gemma’s unsuccessful attempt to blend in with the white marbling behind them. Instead he was looking directly at Louis, eyes searching “I am…I’ve…mated.”

“Oh.” The human boy says eventually, overcome all of a sudden with an odd emotion that made the back of his eyes prickle and his heart clench, “Oh. Uhm-congratulations, sir! I can’t wait to meet the lucky fertile.” He let out a laugh, immediately cringing when it came out watery and hollow.

He suddenly wishes that he hadn’t asked at all, or that he had pretended to miss what Gemma said and forget this slipup had ever happened, because in all honesty he can’t seem to muster up the courage to act all happy and excited for Harry.

On face level, it doesn’t really make sense for him to feel that way; he was an employee of the Styles clan, and a merger that makes the clan bigger and more powerful would only result in Louis getting a pay-rise and nothing more. He should feel good about this.

He doesn’t.

Which makes him possibly the worst person on the planet. Harry had always been unbelievably kind and generous to him; the fact that he had a roof over his head right now was a testament to that. So what does it say about him when he's unable to feel the least bit happy for the Dom when something as amazing as soul bonding happens to him?

Deep down, he already knew the answer. Even though he always been a little reserved around the Dom, was always slightly intimidated by his large presence, his authority and his last name, the truth is Louis had always felt an undeniable attraction towards his boss. Although it was, of course, all a fantasy concocted in his head that was never meant to be any more than a beautiful dream, it still stings for it be confirmed.

So the bottom line was, he was just being selfish and bitter. Nobody would ever want him, let alone Harry.

“I think…uh” Niall began in a tentative tone, shuffling his feet awkwardly and glancing between the two of them with a nervous expression on his face, “think I’ll just go find somewhere to…uh…drink. I’m parched. E-excuse me.”

“Yeah, me too.” Liam agrees almost too eagerly, “haven’t had anything to drink since I got here. I’ll see you in a bit, Haz. Bye, Louis.” Liam gave Louis a small nod and a smile before disappearing into the crowd, hot on Niall’s heels.

“And you, Gemma?” Harry turned to his sister, raising his brows challengingly, as if already knowing what she was going to say.

Gemma grins back guiltily. “I really should be going now. I saw Uncle Dave over there a few minutes ago. Should really go ask him how the factories are…uhm… d-doing…and stuff.” And a few seconds later she had disappeared as well.

That left him and Harry standing together in awkward silence.

Louis suddenly wanted to be anywhere but here. He didn’t want to make awkward small talk with Harry until the Dom inevitably had to go to greet more important guest, leaving Louis alone to look like a complete idiot in a roomful of strangers. He didn’t want to deal with all of the unnecessary attention that these people were giving him because he looked a little different. He didn’t want to interact with anyone at this point.

He wanted to go back to bed, curl in a ball and cry until he passed out from exhaustion. How could he have been such a fucking idiot.

_Stop being a baby. You have no right to be upset._

And that was probably the thing that got to him the most. He had absolutely no right to feel hurt or rejected; it was his own bloody fault for letting himself feel the way he did.

“So…How are you finding it here so far?” Harry asks tentatively, “Do you have everything you need. You can tell me if you need anything extra I can tell John to –“

“It’s great.” Louis says, almost too quickly. “Everything’s really nice. And…uhm…I’ve begun to look for possible apartment options that are in walking distance to out headquarters, so I’ll probably be out within the next two weeks.”

“Oh.” Harry says, a little taken aback at Louis’s tone “Oh… uhm … that’s great.”

Louis nods.

Yeah. Everything was fucking great.

He needs to find somewhere and move out as quickly as possible.

He also needs to get away from Harry and this stupid dinner thing, as quickly as possible, before he does something stupid like burst into tears in front of his boss.

“I-uhm… I need a drink. Excuse me.” Louis whispers, almost tripping in his haste to get away from Harry and towards the bowls of rum punch in the table in the corner of the room, ignoring Harry’s confused and slightly hurt expression as he pushes past.

He suddenly didn’t care how important all these people were or what they thought of him – he was going to get fucking wasted tonight. And nobody can fucking stop him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year guys! I'm not dead. And I haven't given up on this fic. Thank you for waiting so patiently, and for all the comments demanding me to update XD I'm so grateful for each and every one of them.  
> Until next time XXX


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